One of the most stressful times of owning a house has got to be the wintertime. Not only will the weather make it extra difficult and give you additional obstacles to overcome, but it also provides more opportunities for things to go wrong in your home, making extra work for you to either prepare for or to compensate for in the aftermath if you didn’t prep properly.
Here are some tips that every homeowner needs to know to properly winterize their home for these cold and chilly months.
- Check your heating system. You should usually opt for having a professional handle these things unless you’re particularly well-versed in understanding the mechanics of a heating system. If that isn’t you (no shame!), have that professional come in and inspect your furnace and/or heat pump to make sure that it’s clean and in working order. They’ll also check to make sure there isn’t any carbon monoxide leaking out of your heater. No one wants to be left on the coldest night of the year without a working heater, so make sure you take this one seriously.
- Reverse ceiling fans. This isn’t possible on all ceiling fans, but if you have the option for reversing the order, do that when after you turn your heat on. It’ll create an updraft that pushes warm air down into your room to keep it feeling toasty throughout. If you have high ceilings in your rooms, you’ll find this especially helpful.
- Avoid leaks and icicles. If your gutters are prone to “ice dams” (when a lot of water backs up on your roof and freezes) or icicles, then you’ll want to take preventative measures beforehand to make sure you can avoid that situation. Otherwise you might end up with a leaky roof or other lasting damage.
- Repair your roof. Speaking of rooves, you’ll want to make sure you really survey your roof before the wintertime, because otherwise you’ll be in for a not so lovely spring, especially once those April showers hit. If your roof have any damaged shingles or holes, they’ll only be exacerbated by the cold weather and ice, so make sure to repair those. And don’t leave any leaves or sticks in your gutter or on top of flat rooves, otherwise they’ll turn moldy and start to rot.
- Caulk around windows and doors. Any gaps that exist between your siding and window or door frames will lead to cold air leaking into your home. You’ll want to make sure to seal these areas before the cold weather hits, otherwise you’ll lose heat and will end up with a higher heating bill than you probably want to see.