Winter is Coming….Is Your Home Ready??
Winter is on its way and sometimes that means freezing temperatures, wind, snow, ice and putting on heavy jackets. To prepare your home for the winter months this checklist is designed to help you be more prepared for what could be in store. Never a bad idea to be ready before the cold, just in case!
Check that weatherstripping and protect those pipes!
Weatherstripping is a good way to help seal warm air in and cold air out of your home at doors and windows. Replacing old weatherstripping is easy and something you can do to prevent air leaks. Before winter arrives, check all of the windows and doors in you home for any possible air leaks now!
While checking if new weatherstripping is needed, also check your home for any exposed or vulnerable piping. It is important to keep pipes warm during the cold months by not turning your heat down too low when you leave, but those that are exposed could also be wrapped with insulation. Pipe insulation is an easy fix that you can purchase at any hardware store. Outside water faucets should have all hoses removed and be covered with faucet covers, as well. Make sure to caulk up any cracks or holes in your walls and around windows to keep cold air away from pipes. When winter does hit, be sure to let interior faucets that share an outside wall drip to keep water moving during freezing temps outside you can also open cabinet doors to allow heat to keep them warmer.
It is never too early to prepare to protect your home from the cold and be aware of what to do when winter does hit.
Gutters…give them a cleaning! And how is that roof?
Clear gutters help drain water away from your roof and your house. If they’re clogged however, especially in colder months, they’re more likely to freeze, causing additional blockages. Blocked gutters can allow melting ice and snow to seep into your roof, or worst case even flood your home’s foundation, causing damage. If it is safe to do now, go ahead and give those gutters a good cleaning out!
Before winter comes, it is never a bad idea to check your roof now to make sure it can hold up to the extra weather winter can throw our way like ice or snow. With the heavy weight of ice and snow, is your roof ready? If you are unsure, now is always a great time to have it checked out by a roofing specialist. Better to be sure than to deal with any problems during the winter when heavy ice and snow could sit on your roof top causing leaks.
Cover the plants to save them!
With the colder temps outside, many plants will not survive. Covering them with sheets on the coldest of days or bringing any plants that you can inside to warmer temperatures will help. Check now to see which plants you have and to see if they will survive colder temperatures is never a bad idea. This might be a good time to spruce up the landscaping to pull those summer flowers that are already dying to make room for spring blooms after winter has passed.
We all know what happens when the news calls for bad weather – you see grocery stores flood with people, all buying milk, bread, and batteries for their flashlights by the truckload. How do you avoid this mess? Stock up on basic supplies like bottled water and batteries along with winterizing supplies now, before winter, and stay cozy in your home instead of in the crowds at the store when the dreaded forecast comes.
Considering this checklist now can help provide you a head start so you can prepare for the trials of winter. We never know if we will see any snow or ice, but we will soon find out. While preparing your home for winter, if you decide you are ready for a new home before spring, give us a call…we can help!