Most preppers plan for food, water and heating emergencies, but what happens if you have to make emergency repairs to your home?

In addition to basic food and water you should consider putting back tools and materials to help keep your shelter safe and sound.

Tools

Every home should have an assortment of hand tools to make basic repairs. This should include things like hammers, screwdrivers, saws (both wood and metal), pliers, pipe wrenches, staple gun, utility knife, etc..

You can have rechargeable tools, but personally I go old school and also stock a brace and bits, a spring loaded automatic screwdriver along with other unpowered hand tools. You never know in an emergency if you will have power for recharging. A LED worklight is an exception that will last many hours on a single charge and can be a great asset trying to fix something at night.

Fasteners

Several sizes of nails and deck screws will cover most of your major structural repairs. The ubiquitous roll of duct tape is a requirement (FEMA says so), another good tape is strapping tape that is super strong.

Include glues in fasteners. Wood glue and epoxy for sure. Two part epoxy and be used for all sorts of repairs. Get both quick setting and the slower / stronger kind.

Also a few tubes of silicone sealant and possibly some liquid nails.

Last but not least the farmers friend, bailing wire or at least soft wire from the hardware store.

Structural Supplies

If you have the storage space basic lumber is always handy. 2x4’s and 2x6’s are probably what your home is built with and will go a long way in emergency repairs. Also a few sheets of ½” plywood is a versatile material for patching holes to sectioning off areas of your home.

Something most people don’t think of is adjustable jack posts. A couple of these can hold up a basement roof when the whole house caves in on top of it.

Window Repair

There are several ways to repair a blown out window pane. I mentioned plywood, but you can also stock galvanized sheeting and cut out the proper size to plug the hole. (don’t forget tin snips in your tools) Basic plastic sheeting held in place with duct tape will work for a while, or you can store plexiglass.

Plexiglass can easily be cut to size and replace broken glass while allowing in normal light levels.

Tarps

Tarps are always a good thing to have on hand. In my part of the country we have storms at various times of the year that tend to blow shingles off roofs. For weeks after these storms it is not uncommon to see blue and green tarps nailed to roofs all around.

Tarps can also cover blown out windows, broken down doors and even collapsed walls. They will at least keep the worst of the weather out of your home until you can make more substantial repairs.

Stock several tarps of various sizes.

Plumbing

Find out what kind of plumbing you have in your home and stock the appropriate repair material. If you have PVC you can make most repairs without too much trouble. Just stock a couple full length pieces of the size(s) used in your home along with various couplings. And don’t forget primer and cement.

If you have galvanized pipe get correct sized fittings and don’t forget the teflon tape.

It might be a good idea to get basic faucet and toilet tank repair materials as well.

As you can see there are several things you will need to think about stocking to keep your home in good shape in an emergency. Be sure to look at your situation and possible disasters in your area and plan accordingly.