If you live in a place that has cold winters, it is important to get your home ready for the winter season. Winter brings snow and ice, which can cause major damage when they melt and refreeze on your property. You should prepare in advance this fall so you don’t have to scramble last minute. Here are the top things you should do around your house to prepare for this winter.
Insulate Your Pipes
If you don’t insulate your pipes all winter long, they will freeze as soon as cold weather hits. The temperature inside the walls rises when it is warm outside. It falls as temperatures drop indoors at night or during prolonged periods without heat. Make sure that no part of any pipe is located within an unheated area. Such as an exterior wall gets below 32 degrees Fahrenheit for more than 48 hours. You can call a professional plumber who specializes in thawing frozen plumbing lines.
Check Your Roof
The roof is one of the most important aspects to get ready for winter. It can cause damage if not treated properly before cold weather hits. If you have a flat or shingle roof, check your ventilation system. You need to make sure that there are no vents covered up with anything. Also, clean off all debris from rain gutters so water doesn’t back up under shingles and leak into walls or ceilings inside. It should only take about 30 minutes to do this task!
Clear All Debris And Leaf Piles Away From Foundation
Clearing away debris is an important tip for winterization. This is especially true if you have a wooded lot with lots of leaves and branches around your home. They will attract pests such as raccoons, mice, squirrels, or skunks living under the crawlspace. It creates an easy path into your basement or garage where rodents can build nests above ceiling insulation.
Clean The Chimneys
If you use gas logs in your fireplace, then it is important to ensure that all creosote has been removed from them. Make sure to do this before the winter season. Creosote buildup happens when there are incomplete combustion gases produced during heating cycles that condense along with flue tiles. This substance can ignite anytime between November through March unless cleaned out first! It could cause major damage to your home and burn down your neighborhood!
Clean Your Gutters
If your gutters are blocked by debris, then they won’t be able to do their job of draining rain and melting snow. It is important not only for protecting your roof and home exterior but also because it can cause some serious damage. Damage will occur if water overflows into crawlspaces where insulation may become wet. Make Sure to get out there and clean your gutters
Remove Debris And Leaves From Yard
This applies during fall clean-up when you want to ensure there aren’t leaves or branches blocking access ways around the property. It could make them treacherous with ice or snow present during winter months! Also, clear out any firewood piles away from the building. This will make it so rodents don’t have easy shelter to build nests under porches or decks. Be smart about this one too because firewood should be stored at least 20 feet away from buildings.
Prevent Pests From Getting Inside
This tip is more for preventing rodents and other pests which can cause damage to your home during the winter months. During winter, they are looking for shelter from cold weather! You want to get rid of any debris around exterior walls where these animals may have made a path. Do this so you don’t risk them building nests inside insulation on top of ceiling joists. Also, make sure all doors and windows shut tightly enough with no cracks big enough for anything to enter through. Seal up any holes using caulk before it’s too late!
Install Insulation
Insulation is an important tip to get your home ready for winter. It will keep the heat in when you need it most! You don’t want cold air from outside getting into your house and letting all of that expensive heating escape. Be sure to add some between exterior walls if they are currently not insulated. Also, check insulation already installed as it may be faulty. This can be done by hiring professionals who specialize in doing this task. We recommend DIY if you know what you’re doing! Look online for tutorials on how to install insulation like a pro.
Install A Programmable Thermostat
If there’s one thing everyone needs before winter hits their area, It is a programmable thermostat! They help regulate temperatures when you’re at home and when you’re away. These little guys can save a ton of money on energy bills by properly regulating temperatures.
Heating or cooling doesn’t have to be running constantly throughout the day! If installed in homes with children, elderly people, pets it is a perfect addition. They provide extra safety because heat is being produced even when no one is at home.
Install A Faucet Cover
This tip applies more towards families with babies and young toddlers. Faucets are where most injuries happen around the house. It is usally during the winter months due to extremely cold water coming from them. Install a faucet cover that will keep these faucets free from germs and bacteria. It also prevents anyone in your family from getting scalded by water that’s too hot to handle! This is a great investment for any home with small children. Just be sure not to remove it when you need access or else risk flooding.
Unplug Appliances
When the power goes out, then all of your appliances will have been running off of electricity instead of gas. You want to make sure they are unplugged before winter comes. If there’s anything worse than frozen pipes bursting outside during cold weather, It is having an appliance combust into flames inside your home. Luckily these run on electricity as well, but we’re going to recommend unplugging them just in case.
Conclusion
So there you have it, the Top Tips For Getting Your Home Ready For Winter! It’s never too early to start getting your house ready for cold weather so that everything is in tip-top shape. Hopefully, this article has provided some insight on what needs to be done around your house before winter comes knocking at your door! Thanks for reading and best of luck preparing!
