Wet Season Home Maintenance Checklist for Cairns

The wet and cyclone season runs from November to April. October and November are your window — the weather's still good enough to work outside, tradies aren't run off their feet yet, and you've got time to fix anything you find. Leave it until a system's forming and you'll be in a queue.

Clear every gutter of leaves and debris, then flush the downpipes with a hose to confirm water flows freely. Overflowing gutters are the number one cause of ceiling leaks in heavy rain. Check the gutters aren't sagging and the downpipes connect properly.

Look for rust streaks, lifted or loose sheets, and screws sitting proud. Roof screw rubber seals bake and fail in the Cairns sun; replacing the dodgy ones and re-sealing lifted sheets now stops the leaks that only show up in a downpour. Check flashings and ridge capping — if the bedding and pointing is cracked, it needs re-doing. If you're not safe on a roof, that's my job.

Your garage door is the biggest moving surface on your home, so it cops the wind. Lube the rollers and tracks, check the spring tension, and test the auto-reverse. A door that's out of balance strains the opener and is more likely to fail — or come off its tracks — in a storm. A yearly service is cheap insurance.

Walk around and look for branches overhanging the roof or near powerlines. Trim what's within reach; anything tall or near powerlines is a qualified arborist's job, so call one in. A snapped branch in a storm becomes a missile that smashes roofs, windows and fences.

Clear stormwater grates and drains of leaf build-up so the water has somewhere to go. If your yard pools in a normal downpour, it'll be a lake in a cyclone. Check the grate at the kerb too.

Loose furniture, bins, tarps, kids' toys, potted plants and garden tools all become flying debris in a storm. Walk the yard and either secure or store everything that isn't bolted down. This is one of the simplest, most-overlooked prep jobs.

Check fly screens and security screens for tears and loose frames. A loose screen flapping in the wind lets rain in and damages the frame. Re-tension or replace the damaged ones before the season.

Before the humidity ramps up, sort your airflow. Clean any mould now so it doesn't spread, run exhaust fans, and consider a dehumidifier for the wet months. Keeping indoor humidity around 50 per cent stops mould taking hold.

Before the season, walk through and photograph every room, the outside of the house, the roof, the garage and your valuables, and store the photos in the cloud. If the worst happens and you need an insurance claim, a clear record of the pre-storm condition makes the claim far smoother and faster — it takes twenty minutes and costs nothing.

While you're at it, dig out your home and contents policy and check what's covered for storm and flood damage, and what your excess is. If anything's unclear, a quick call to your insurer now beats a nasty surprise after a cyclone. Make sure your sum insured reflects what rebuilding would actually cost in Cairns today.

Keep a written inventory alongside the photos — make, model and what you paid for the big-ticket items.

Put together a basic kit: a torch and spare batteries, a first-aid kit, bottled water, non-perishable food, a battery or wind-up radio, and a list of emergency numbers. Keep it somewhere you can grab it fast. Follow Cairns Regional Council and the Bureau of Meteorology for official warnings and evacuation advice.

If you'd rather have it handled, I offer fixed-price pre-cyclone home check packages starting at $279 — gutters, roof screws, garage door and yard, with a photo checklist report. You can see the packages and book on the cyclone season prep page.