If a natural disaster has caused significant damage to your home, you may be tempted to begin repairs right away. We get it, you just want your life back to normal. But these small repairs can mask a lot of the damage and will make it hard for an adjuster to make a fair estimate of the repair costs.

Temporary fixes that could help prevent any further damage are a good idea, but it’s best to wait until after the insurance adjuster has taken a good solid look at your property to make permanent repairs.