After the First Storm: What to Check When You Weren’t Home

The first cold storm of the rainy season moved through Southern California this week, and forecasters flagged flood watches for the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounding communities, including the Palisades and Bryson burn scars. If you own a home in Los Angeles that you were not in while it rained, the next few days are the right time to find out how it held up.

Start with the roof and everything that sheds water off it. Walk the perimeter, or have someone you trust do it, and look at the gutters, downspouts and drains for standing water, overflow staining, or debris that the wind moved around last week. A downspout that dumps next to a foundation, or a clogged scupper on a flat roof, will quietly cause damage long after the rain stops. Check the ceilings inside, especially below roof valleys, skylights and chimneys, for fresh stains or soft spots. Water finds its way in at transitions, and I look hardest at flashing and penetrations.

Next, look at the ground. On hillside lots, watch for erosion, shifted soil, or mud and debris that moved toward retaining walls, pool decks, and drainage channels. Make sure site drains, French drains and sump pumps are actually running and discharging where they should. Irrigation deserves a second look too: controllers set for summer will keep watering a saturated yard, which wastes water and loads the soil, so confirm the system is paused or on a rain-aware schedule. Pools collect leaves and runoff fast, so check the water level, the skimmers and the pump after a storm.

Then go inside. A vacant house tells on itself: a musty smell, a humid corner, a window track holding water, a garage floor that is damp where it was dry. Run the HVAC and listen for anything unusual, and confirm the condensate line drains. Test the leak sensors and any water shutoff valves if the home has them, and replace weak batteries. Power flickers during storms can reset thermostats, alarms and cameras, so confirm that everything came back online and is reporting properly.

Finally, write it down. Photos with dates, a short note of what you found, and what was fixed create a record that is useful for your own maintenance planning and for any conversation with your insurance professional. This is not insurance or legal advice, and every policy is different, so it is worth asking your agent or broker what documentation they like to see, particularly if your home sits near a burn scar or on a slope.

The point of a post-storm walk is simple: small problems are cheap on day one and expensive on day thirty. A gutter you clear this week costs an hour. A leak you find in January costs a ceiling, a floor, and a lot of drywall.

Own a home you’re not around for? Let’s talk about how we can look after it. Call or text +1.310.739.7679.