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A short freeze should not be a big deal for your area. I just bought some of the spigot covers for mine. I live in Virginia and have a bit colder temps than you do. Normally we have no problems with our area either. I just covered them to make sure.

Lightning strikes can cause damage to many items in a house. The most suspectable items are GFI outlets, any electronic machines ( TV, computers, audio equipment etc.), dimmers, switches and elements of an electric range/oven, and yes, garage door openers. Another area to check is to unplug any device plugged into a receptacle and inspect the metal plug ...

Smaller panels are one way to go; see this article Hail Damage and your Solar Panels: If you decide to install photovoltaic modules and worry about hail damage, there are a couple of things to consider. One of the most important concerns the size of the modules. If the region you live in is subject to frequent or serious hail storms, ...

For rare freezes, you can turn on the faucet slightly, to drip a little. This will keep fresh warmer water coming in, and reduce the chance of freezing. If your house has a crawlspace with the plumbing, those pipes are potentially susceptible to freezing, too. This trick helps there, as well. Obviously, this is a waste of water if you have to do it more ...

In colder climates at least, the norm is to have either shutoffs, or frost-proof sillcocks. A shutoff is simply a valve on the inside of the house. You close it off, then open the outside tap, and the water drains out of the pipe in the wall. A frost-proof sillcock (pictured below) is a tap with a very long stem, so the shutoff is actually at the base ...

The best approach is to check anything electrical that was connected to cables in your house- either power or communication- as lightning can find its way along any wire. A visual check may show scorch marks or blown components, especially in electronic circuits, but you'd be better off checking every power supply, every appliance and every power socket ...

Honestly, your best bet may be to re-build the structure using an exterior grade plywood. Whatever solution you come up with to "weatherize" the MDF will only be temporary. Soon enough, there will be some damage done to the protective coating that you apply, and then when the next storm comes by you will have a soggy pile of sawdust instead of a shed. Do ...

Google Hydraulic cement (HC), you should be able to purchase 5 lbs or so for less than $20. Tools needed: 2Q bucket (dont expect to be able to clean it 100%), margin trowel (for mixing and scooping), 3" putty knife, rubber gloves, paint scraping implements (goggles, if you use a wire wheel) Remove as much of the paint as possible, especially in the bowl ...

Here in Alberta this turns out to be a non-problem. What tends to happen is that the snow slides off the roof, stacks against the house. Within a day or so, heat from house melts a finger sized crevasse and the snow is no longer touching the house. Assuming that there is reasonable siding on the house this is a non-worry item IMHO. If however, the ground ...

Clad the sides in treated Feather-edge boards and cover the top in roofing felt. Raise it off the ground to prevent it from standing in water and soaking it up from underneath. I suggest getting a few concrete slabs and putting it on top of them, making sure that the edge of the shed (cladding) sticks out over the edge of slabs a little to prevent rain ...

Most panels are designed to withstand most ordinary hail. Modern panels rarely use glass. For such large hail, one option might be to pole-mount the panels, then tilt them up to full vertical when serious hail is predicted (takes about 5 minutes, 2 people and a wrench). This will put the faces out of harms way. You could add some kind of a rail at the top ...