Large amounts or rain can lead to serious water damage to your house and home if not taken care of properly.

Maintenance and preventative measures can be taken to help prepare your house for heavy rain storms.

Owner of Rogalsky Roofing Tim Rogalsky says it is important to check the valleys and vents in your roof.

“The valleys deteriorate most quickly on a roof, and sometimes vents aren't installed properly, or with wear and tear they might start leaking. In the valleys your are looking for areas of black patches where the asphalt topping has worn through.”

He notes blown insulation in your attic will loose its air pockets if it gets wet, and it is the air pockets that give it the insulation value.

Rogalsky says it is also important to clean you your gutters at least once a year, and twice a year if you have lots of trees. He says if your eaves are dirty it can lead to sitting water that can rot the soffits and allow water into the attic.

Owner of Floodgates Restoration Donald Bouchard says one of the biggest ways to make sure the basement stays dry is directing the water that comes off of the eaves at least six feet away from the house.

“Have extensions on your eaves troughs so that the water doesn't stay close to the house. When you have got a lot of water coming down from your roof into one specific area down one or two down spouts it adds way to much water pressure and it starts to push against the foundation.”

Bouchard says one of the most common place to get water damage from storms that bring in lots of water in a short period of time is the window wells.

“Leaves fall into the window well and they decompose and they create a blanket in the window well which hinders the water from draining into the rocks. What happens in a flash flood is the window well is so clogged with leaves that the water level starts rising into the window.”

Bouchard notes cleaning out loose leaves and stirring up the gravel in the window well can help prevent this issue. He adds water that leaks in through a window well is not covered by insurance because it is classified as land overflow.

Bouchard suggest everyone make sure their sump pump is working every three months. He notes people with more then one sump pump in their house often have a false sense of security and don't do maintenance on them.

Bouchard says if something does go wrong and you do end up with water in the basement it is important to get it dry as soon as possible.

“Don't wait a day to call someone. If you leave the carpet in water more then six or seven hours it will start delaminating.”