Hello World! Welcome Friends! Once the days started getting shorter and the temperature started to drop, you knew winter was coming, so what did you do? Well, if you’re like most people, you probably started switching out your summer clothes for winter clothes; You probably started cooking more warm and hearty meals like soups and chili; And you started to turn on the heat versus the air conditioning.
Those are all ways that you prepare yourself to survive the cold winter season. But in your personal preparations for winter, all too often, many people forget that you have to prepare your home for winter as well… You’re not the only one having to deal with the brunt of winter weather… your home does too. In fact, your home is the only reason you’re able to survive the cold winter months in the first place!
But being that it’s already wintertime, you might be thinking that it’s too late to try and winterize your home but it indeed isn’t. Everything from heat preservation to gutters, it’s not too late to get your home prepared for winter. Follow these helpful tips.
Helpful Tips to Get Your Home Ready For Winter
Assess Your Roof and Siding
Yes, it’s best to assess your roof and siding before winter gets here but for many people, that’s not something that’s even on most homeowners’ radars. But with winter already being upon us, it’s time you start doing your assessing now. Maybe you’ve noticed that your heating system runs for unusually long periods of time to reach the temperature you’ve set for it. Or that certain parts of your home tend to be colder than other parts…
If you experience this in your home, there could be some potential leaks in your roof or your siding. This wouldn’t be such an absurd conclusion to come to because your roof and siding are the great protectors of your home from the outdoor elements, so it wouldn’t be unusual if your roof or siding incurred some damages over the years.
Conduct a visual assessment looking for warping, bending, cracks, missing shingles, and rot. Those are the signs you don’t want to find, but in the event you do, you want to get in contact with an exteriors expert that can repair and replace both siding and roofing issues.
Clean Your Gutters
Cleaning out your gutters is something that should be done a few times throughout the years depending on how close your house is to trees. Ideally, you want to clear your gutters before winter comes with its freezing temperatures but getting them clean now is better than not at all. Even the slightest effort to get debris out of your gutters will help prevent them from getting clogged, allowing for easy water flow.
Seal Gaps and Cracks Near Windows and Doors
One of the biggest concerns in winterizing your home is making sure all your heat stays indoors, and one of the best ways to do that is to weatherstrip your doors and caulk your windows. This particular method of winterizing your home is extremely affordable and will cut costs on your heating bill as well.
Insulate Your Pipes
Places that don’t get central heating like your garage, attic, and basement are prime locations for a higher risk of frozen pipes. To prevent this from happening, you’ll want to insulate your pipes. There is pipe insulation made of foam that you can apply to exposed pipes liberally. You can also prevent your pipes from freezing by keeping your garage door closed and keeping your home’s indoor temperature above 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
Now that you know what it takes to winterize your home, you can then start getting your home prepared for the necessary spring cleaning of your home’s exteriors once winter has passed!
This will be a little bit more bearable than winter, being that the weather will be much nicer. Take this time during the winter months to devise a plan as to how you want to tackle your spring cleaning efforts.
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Toodles,
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