In my 15+ years of being a handyman and DIY homeowner, I’ve come across some really great suggestions. The #1 thing I want everyone to read would be about cabinet liners. Not only are they cheap, but they’ve personally saved me from leaks multiple times now. I have them under every sink in the house. There are two types of houses, those that have had water leaks, and those that will. Garbage disposals are the most likely source of a water leak due to the vibration they make that will eventually cause the sink connection to leak.
Here are some options, but it doesn’t matter what kind or brand or anything, there are all sorts of colors and sizes. Can’t recommend these enough!
I believe that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” In my mind, this is a no-brainer having seen firsthand the kind of damage unknown water leaks can cause. Not to mention, repeated or sustained wet conditions on wood are how mold grows. There’s no way I’m messing with mold. Better to prevent it altogether.
In fact, the only house recommendation I like more is a water-powered sump pump as a backup. Though quite a bit more expensive than cabinet liners, you can sense a theme. Anywhere you can double down on water damage prevention, I can’t recommend it enough. I personally have one of these in my basement.
As with the shelf liners, this sump pump has saved me tons of times now with power outages during heavy rain. Unfortunately, I didn’t get this one until after a really rough night of my basement flooding. I was super lucky to wake up that night and have the thought to go check the basement. Luckily my floor drain was in a spot where the water went mostly too and I could funnel the rest there. Overall damage was minor compared to the potential. Now I sleep soundly at night when this happens. The water-powered sump pump kicks on as if by some miracle.
If you can’t already tell, prevention is one of my favorite words. Another key piece of hardware in my house is a whole-house surge protector. Luckily this one hasn’t saved me yet per se, but having it there is some nice insurance if I were to need it. Unlike the other suggestions above, a brand is more important here. I would stick with the major brands when it comes to electrical. Siemens, Square D, Eaton, etc.
We’re getting away from water-related topics, but I think this information is invaluable for everyone to benefit from. Another favorite topic of mine is physical home security. Alarms and monitoring systems are nice, sure, but true security is prevention. If an intruder can’t even get into your home, then they aren’t taking anything.
According to ADT, the most common entry point is your front door, first-floor windows, and back door. I’ve installed large strike plates on both my front and back doors. Also, 3″ screws should be put into the hinges to secure that side of the door. Granted, if someone really wants in they could just break the door if they try hard enough, but this is a really cheap and great option for prevention. Also, if you don’t have a deadbolt, get one, or at least get a large strike plate for just the doorknob.
To round out the home security suggestions, there’s such a thing as window security film. I don’t personally have this because my windows that are “in danger” of being broken are 6 feet tall and I don’t see someone breaking one of those to get in the house. But the product does exist if you have small windows that could be broken to unlock doors. Consider window security film.
All in all, these suggestions are relatively cheap and should be one-time purchases that will serve you well for years!