Peace Of Mind When You Leave Your Home Behind
WILCO Home Watch is a division of WILCO Restoration. Founded in 2018, WILCO Restoration has worked with homeowners throughout the east/central Florida area to assist when disaster has struck their home. With expertise in the restoration business, and having many contacts from home inspectors, to roofers, to cleaning services and beyond, WILCO decided to expand their services to assist homeowners that are not always at home in their Florida residence. Instead of calling WILCO Restoration when a disaster strikes, we want homeowners to call us to set up our Home Watch Services so we can help identify issues that can potentially prevent or mitigate these disasters, or find an issue before it becomes catastrophic, whenever possible.
A home Watch Service is there when you can not be. You have worked hard and deserve to enjoy vacations, time with family, and become a “snowbird” if you choose. You shouldn’t have to hope that your home is safe while you are away. We can also assist military members that are being stationed outside of their home area, whether overseas or in the U.S. We are here to be your eyes and ears and to observe and report what we see when we are on site.
Hurricanes, wind and storms are a huge part of the concerns for homeowners that are part time in Florida. We can assist with storm preparedness and post storm clean up.
Many insurance companies have clauses in the homeowner’s policies stating they must be notified within a certain timeframe of an event/loss happening in the home. Many times there are exclusions on the policy if you are away from the property for a certain amount of time as well. Many homeowners are unaware of these items in their policy and have come home to their thermostat not functioning and a house full of mold from the humidity. Insurance denies their claim due to them being absent from the home and not maintaining it properly. Same is true of water damage. Homeowners have come home from vacation and opened their door to a house full of water that was leaking the entire time they were gone. Timing is the key to any issues that may arise. That is where we come in.
If you engage WILCO Home Watch Services, we can identify issues before they are a bigger issue. Weekly checks on your property and looking for issues like pests/rodents, exterior checks for cracks and concerns(we will not go on a roof and inspect the roof, however, if there is a concern that we identify from the inside, we will report and advise to have a roofer inspect), interior checks to make sure thermostat is still functioning and at an optimal humidity, checking for signs of leaks and water damage throughout the home.
We will not make any changes to any of your home, without your authorization. We are merely there to observe and report. If we believe there is a concern, and report it to you, we can assist to have the appropriate contractor come out and do a full inspection, estimate and ensure your property is taken care of. This is a part of our concierge service and coordination of services.
We will go over the exterior of the home and check for signs of damage or home invasions, both human and pest kind. Checking the AC units and other systems on the outside to ensure that is everything is properly functioning. If there are any areas of concern, we will report and advise you, the homeowner, so that you can have an expert in their field assess in depth. With your authorization, we will meet professionals on site to ensure that any concerns are addressed.
We will inspect the home to make sure there are no suspected leaks, or water damage, and notify you immediately if there are any concerns. We will check windows, doors, appliances, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, air filters, thermostat to ensure everything is running properly. If water is shut off, we will ensure it is still off. If it is running, we will run faucets and toilets. We can customize your plan based on your needs.
If there are areas of concern that we find while we are checking on your property during our weekly visit, we will notify you and obtain your consent to coordinate a specialist to inspect anything that may be outside our scope. If there is any water damage or concern of microbial growth, we will notify you immediately and offer next steps and estimate for us to correct the issue. This may also mean finding a plumber to fix any leaks, or HVAC or other trade that may need to be involved. Any work done is the responsibility of the homeowner for any payment for those services and not included in the monthly price of Home Watch services.
Hurricane season is the most vulnerable time of year for Florida residents. It is important to be prepared for any unexpected storm, but storms can happen at any time throughout the year. Our focus would be to make sure that if there is a predicted named Tropical storm or Hurricane that may affect you, that we help you by coordinating board ups, security checks of property, make sure hazards such as outside furniture are brought in, and any other prep that needs to be done to help ensure the safety of your home, is completed. This is a premium service that must be secured prior to Hurricane Season/the first named storm is announced as it is tailored to each individual home.