Reasons To Call An Electrician After A Storm | Conway, SC

9/6/2021

Photo By Jonathan Beckett at istock

After a major storm, your home may have water leaking through the walls, outside wires blown around, outdoor lighting may have its weatherproof claim tested and you might even have the effects of a nearby lightning strike or power line surge to deal with. Your electrician can provide a quick check of typical storm-related electrical concerns and let you know what might need repairs, maintenance, or more weatherproofing for the future. At Mister Sparky of Myrtle Beach, serving Conway, SC, and the coastal area, we know the damage that storms can cause, both obvious and subtle, sometimes showing up as problems weeks or months after the fact. We can take care of damage after the storm, and perform an electrical inspection to look for signs of hidden damage that could lead to corrosion, short circuits, or even electrical fires later on.

Start with a Water Damage Prevention Inspection by Our Professional Electrician

Our experienced electricians can inspect your home’s wiring and construction and identify areas where the existing wiring isn’t properly protected from storm-driven rain that may find its way into your roof, siding, or other access points, running down and across beams and other structures inside the walls. The water can wind up in outlets, switches, and fixtures, sometimes producing immediate effects, sometimes appearing later as corrosion proceeds. From the review our electrician performs, you can consider caulking, reroofing, rewiring in conduit, or other solutions to protect your wiring against the powerful forces that cause water to penetrate into coastal region homes.

Damage From Previous Storms

Our electrician can also open junction boxes and other access points and inspect for corrosion from past storms. They can also inspect for signs of wiring that was done improperly inside the walls, providing extra exposure to moisture and mechanically unsound connections, a recipe for disaster. If your outdoor wiring or fixtures don’t include good protection against water damage, our electrician can identify the problem and possible solutions or substitute fixtures.

The Role of AFCI Protection in Preventing Fires from Corroded Wiring

Newer circuit breakers have AFCI capability or Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter functionality. This is a feature of the breaker that detects arcing from short circuits or corroded wiring and trips the breaker when any arcs are detected. Like GFCI protection for ground faults that protect people, AFCI protects against events that pose a risk of starting a fire. Since a lot can happen in wiring hidden in the walls, having our team install or upgrade to AFCI breakers can be a lifesaver.

Outdoor Wiring Installation and Inspection

If your home has existing outdoor wiring, it’s worth taking a look at how it was done before trouble arises. Certainly, there need to be weatherproof outlets and GFCIs, but other code-required or recommended practices help protect the wiring from moisture, damage through digging or cutting into the ground, and risks from nailing or stapling rather than using conduit for surface runs. Our electricians can give you the information on how your existing wiring should be upgraded for safety and reliability, and perform any other outdoor wiring you need to light and supply power to your outdoor spaces.

Power Interruption and Power Line Damage from Storms

If you have an observable cause of power interruption to your home such as a tree limb on your power line, it’s important to call the power company and stay away from the problem. Electricity has unexpected properties in wet weather that electricians understand and take precautions against, but it’s not worth the risk to untrained individuals. If you’ve had a lightning strike nearby or possible power surge during the storm, whether you have had us install lightning and surge arrestors or not, you should have your home’s wiring inspected for damage right away. If you’d like to have whole-house protection from these concerns in the future, we’ll be glad to install them so you can rest easier the next time around. We can also help with backup UPS power and backup generator power to help you ride out the storm until power returns, either for short or long-term duration.

Electrical Damage from Plumbing Leaks

The same as water from storms that gets into your home and drips through the walls, water from plumbing leaks can travel through your walls, ceilings, and floors on conduits and beams before reaching electrical wiring and causing corrosion or other damage. It’s possible that leak damage can occur long before you realize that there is a leak since homeowners usually don’t know about hidden water problems until they appear on the surface as wet spots, deforming boards, or crumbling plaster. Plumbers can find the leak with special equipment once its presence is known, but they can’t always trace the damage that the water has caused in the walls. Visual inspection and the scent of mold provide some guidance, but prevention, where possible, is still the best cure.

Special Services for Salt Water

If you have property by the beach, our team can take special care to check for saltwater damage if you suspect your building has been affected. Saltwater corrodes even more than freshwater, so it’s worth the extra protection. We can also install outdoor fixtures that are designed for oceanfront properties, with materials and seals that protect them from salt spray.

We’re Here for Your Safety at Mister Sparky of Myrtle Beach

We serve the Conway, SC area which means we know a thing or two about storms, water spray, and electricity, checking up on our customers’ homes after each big blow or rainstorm when they have electrical power concerns. Our electricians inspect and correct indoor wiring that needs some attention, and our outdoor wiring is careful and to code so you know you’re protected. Give us at Mister Sparky of Myrtle Beach a call for preventive inspections in Conway, SC to locate water damage risks to electrical circuits, and call right away if you think your home’s wiring is at risk after a storm.