The same storms that sank hundreds of ships off the coast of the Outer Banks giving the area the name Graveyard of the Atlantic still continue to batter the line of oceanfront homes, causing routine household maintenance not typical to most homes.

Corrosion: Salt air accelerates the corrosion of HVAC condensing units, metal flashings, and fasteners, requiring higher annual maintenance budgets.

You have probably heard about some towns where there is nothing to do except sit around and watch car bumpers rust. Well, here on the Outer Banks you will find a lot of things to do including watch the chrome rust off your car bumper. If you own an oceanfront house you can also watch the deck nails rust and the siding nails rust and the interior appliances rust and the heat pumps rust and anything else made out of any kind of metal rust.

On the oceanfront, plastic is your best friend. Forget the fancy metal exterior light fixtures. When replacing a light fixture, you want to find the nicest plastic ones you can, and make sure they have stainless steel mounting screws. Anything made out of any kind of metal other than stainless steel will rust or corrode on the oceanfront and turn into a pile of crumply material.

All oceanfront houses leak during storms. Anderson windows are some of the best window's money can buy and they are only rated to 45 mph winds. This means that during storms where the wind exceeds 45 mph you can expect water to get into the house. The same thing goes for all types of doors. If you think your house back where you live would never leak like this you can try a simple experiment. Take your garden hose and turn it on full pressure and aim it at any window or door in your house. Make sure you aim for the point where the door meets the house of the top pane of the window meets the bottom pain and hold it there for a hour. Water will find its way inside.

Construction methods rely on gravity to cause rain water to run down the house. Siding, windows, doors and flashing all rely on gravity. When the wind hits the 50 mph mark the water no longer runs down the house. Water under these conditions will actually run up the house and when this happens nothing can keep it out. Fortunately, these storms are few and far between.

Don't be surprised to find sand in your house after it has sat empty. The fine sugar sand here on the OBX will find it way through any openings in your house and accumulate there, even of the top floor.

The wind constantly beating on wood will also fray the wood. The wood fibers get broken down and get fuzy from the constant beating from the wind and the wind-blown sand.