From prepping your pipes to cleaning your gutters, there are plenty of things you can do around the house to make sure that you’re ready for winter. Because, ready or not, winter is coming.
Outdoor Preparation
- Restock cold weather essentials like salt or ice melt and make sure you’ve got a good snow shovel.
- Wrap the water pipes in your basement and crawl spaces with insulation sleeves to slow heat transfer and prevent cracking.
- Drain your irrigation system.
- Inspect your roof and repair any leaks. Survey trees and remove branches that might fall on your home or your neighbor’s home due to ice and snow.
- Drain and disconnect hoses.
- Shut off outside water valves and wrap any exposed pipes.
- As debris, ice, and snow collect, gutters become heavy and can damage your home, so make sure they’re clean before the beginning of the winter weather season.
- Protect your home against ice damming which causes costly damage.
Indoor Preparations
- Change out all of your filters, clean the vents and make sure that your heating vents aren’t blocked.
- Check your fuse box and make sure you’ve got the backups you need.
- Inspect your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
- Reverse your ceiling fans to circulate heat and save money.
- Check your hot water heater and other major appliances to make sure everything’s in order. You can also cover it with an insulated blanket.
- Go over your weather stripping around windows and doorframes to check for leaks to prevent heat loss and replace worn out stripping.
- If your home has a chimney, make sure the flue is clean, and keep the vent closed when you don’t have a fire going.
- Check the windows and doors for drafts and apply caulk inside and out, where necessary, to prevent heat from escaping.
And don’t forget, in the words of another famous Ned:
Schedule a gutter cleaning today. $25 off gutter cleaning for first-time customers!
