Home Preparations for Winter

The coming of winter brings with it the nostalgic feelings of holiday planning, gift giving, and wonderful moments with family and friends. However, winter also brings forth the potential for harsh weather and damage to your home. Temperatures will drop and areas will experience the turmoil of feet of snow, frigid winds, sharp rain, and the worst of all, ice. These hardships all can have a devastating effect upon you and your wallet.

In order to maintain the integrity of your home as well as prevent expensive repair costs in the future, here are a few household DIY projects to ensure your home is up to the task of a long winter, presented below by LivingSpaces & LifeStyles Magazine. 

INDOORS

Winter months are times spent in the warmth of the home. During the winter maintenance jobs outside (or worse, on the roof) can be dangerous and unnecessary. Heating the home is integral during winter, obviously, and should be a top priority to homeowners. During the fall, conduct a quick check of your home’s water heater. Flush your water heater of timely buildup and check to see if the pressure relief valve correctly stops & starts water flow. 

Also, check the working order of the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your home. Battery replacement and testing is essential to you as homeowners and family will be spending a majority of time in-home.

Next, clean each window in your home thoroughly on both sides. Clear windows bring natural sunlight and warmth into the home, lessening your heating costs. Also, inspect the seals and make sure they’re airtight in order to stop cold drafts from entering. Otherwise, windows can be a primary source of heat loss in the winter, according to a comprehensive study conducted by Engineer Educators.

Lastly, make sure your ceiling fans (indoor & outdoor) run clockwise facing down. This will bring cold air up, therefore keeping warmer air flowing below. 

One thing to note: When you’re making changes to the interior (and exterior) of your home to prepare for winter, always make notes and keep receipts of minor and major repairs. This can actually help add value to your home should you decide to sell it.

OUTDOORS

Wintery precipitates come in contact with the outdoor areas of the house most often. Thus, much of the damage during these months happens here. Freezing water is notorious for its destructive nature on materials it falls on. These few steps can help keep these materials in good order.

First, check outdoor furniture for cracks or extra damage. Use putty to fill any cracks on any furniture pieces comprised of metal. Afterwards, apply a new coat of paint to ensure your outdoor items hold up during the cold. Finally, cover them with a tarp.

Next, use epoxy or simple concrete to fill in cracks in your driveway. Cracks will only deepen and expand during the winter which will prove costly unless handled beforehand. This technique can easily be used on rock walls, garden beds, and sidewalks.

Also, overgrown trees and cold winter weather have the potential to be a harmful disaster to you and your neighbors. So, avoid future problems by hiring a contractor or using a ladder to cut any overgrown branches. Branches above your roof or patio should be removed as well as branches hanging into your neighbor’s yard. 

CHECK THOSE PIPES!

Pipes fall into the exceptionally large category of things that will break with cold water. Pipes without insulation (outdoors) turn to cold pipes. Cold pipes freeze. Frozen pipes burst.

A burst pipe during the winter is an enormously costly event which most often needs the care of a licensed plumber, says the New York Times. Pipes found within the home usually escape this problem. However, pipes relaying from outdoors or in areas with little insulation have the potential of bursting.

First, identify which pipes may have potential for freezing. It is important to drain outdoor pipes before the arrival of freezing temperatures. This ensures the lengths of metal pipe are absent of prior water that may freeze. After the pipes have been drained, place insulating pipe sleeves to lengths of the pipe, (1/4 inch of newspaper is an inexpensive insulator and still maintains warmth in pipes).

It is important to plan ahead when it comes to the maintenance of your home. The holiday months bring with them unpredictable weather. If you take these precautions, though, you’ll put yourself in a good position to simply enjoy the season, instead of being a victim of it.  

By Guest Writer: Carrie Spencer