When preparing for a disaster, you will most likely end up having to decide between staying in your home or evacuating to a prepared bug-out location to ride out the disaster safely. Staying in your home to ride out a disaster is a good choice, provided that you prepare your home ahead of time. Solar panels and impact-resistant windows are two renovation projects that can help you ride out a disaster in your home safely.

Solar Panels

One of the best home renovations you can do in order to prepare for a disaster is installing solar panels. These solar panels will be able to provide you with a backup source of power if the local power grid fails. In addition, the solar panels are a reliable source of energy, which is great in the event of a disaster because you never know how long it will be before the power can be restored.

A nice side bonus to these solar panels is that they can save or earn you money until a disaster occurs. This is because the solar panels can reduce your power bills by reducing the amount of power that you need from the local power company. If you produce more power than you use, you can sell the excess electricity to the power company and receive a check instead of a bill every month.

Impact-Resistant Windows

One of the unfortunate things that can happen as a result of a disaster is that people can turn to looting. This can either be because they see an opportunity to get away with stealing or simply because they are desperate and did not plan ahead for the disaster. In that situation, you are going to want to strengthen your home to make it as difficult as possible to break into.

The weakest point in your home is your windows, which is why you should consider replacing them with impact-resistant windows. Impact-resistant windows are usually made out of two panes of glass with a film between them.

The film is designed to hold the shards of glass in place if the window is broken, which will force a potential intruder to break the glass, dig out the shards, and tear through the film before being able to get into your home. The time it takes for an intruder to get through an impact-resistant window can be used to prepare to defend yourself or to get your family to safety.

Speak to a contractor today in order to discuss the many renovation projects that he or she can assist you with. By installing solar panels and impact-resistant windows you will be able to make staying in your home a viable option in the event of a disaster. Contact a company like Rob Kabby Custom Builders to get started.