By now, we all know fall is here in full force. Winter coats in the morning as you head to work and cranking the air conditioning in your car on the ride home. However, here are 10 easy ways to prepare your home for winter as it begins to approach.
1. Hoses & Outside Water Faucets
Even an overnight freeze/thaw during full can cause your hose or faucet to freeze and burst with the water that sits in it as it is coiled up, hanging on your home. Hopefully you have a “frost-free” faucet on your home that prevents your faucet from bursting as well. Whether you do or not, you can still protect yourself using a Foam Faucet Cover. These inexpensive items help prevent the cold air from reaching the parts of the faucet that are susceptible to freeze damage. Also disconnect that hose and rewind the hose in reverse to allow all the water to escape.
2. Check / Clean Your Gutters.
Gutters are extremely important on a home. Gutters help divert unwanted water from your home preventing siding and foundation damage. If your gutters are equipped with leaf guards you may want to ensure the leaf guards are not blocked by excess falling leaves from nearby trees. Keeping an open gutter system is one of the key maintenance items to keep your home at its peak performance during winter.
3. Furnace / Boiler Check-up
We often take for granted that we can have heat at the push of a thermostat button. Dont get caught on a cold day with your heating equipment malfunctioning. I recommend having a qualified HVAC technician perform a check up to ensure your unit is operating as it should be. You can also be proactive and check your furnace filter if your unit is equipped with one. A blocked furnace filter is one of the most common “no heat” calls that HVAC technician see during the heating season. Vacuuming out any loose dirt or debris will also help keep your heating unit from breaking down. Just be sure to stay away from any open flames when doing so.
4. Check Door & Window Seals
By far the #1 place heat escapes your home is around your doors and windows. For very little cost, you can purchase weather-stripping from your local home supply store. Products like, foam strips, door sweeps, and window kits all help keep your warm air in your home while blocking the cold, outside air from entering your home, ultimately keeping your hard earned money in your pocket.
5. Deck Maintenance
Take a good hard look at your deck and its overall condition. If your deck is showing signs of deterioration such as chipped paint or green algae, it is time to show it the TLC it so rightly deserves. The harsh winter ice can sit on unprotected parts of your decking causing damage resulting in costly repairs down the road. Additionally, make sure everything is off your deck and stored out of the way. Having excessive items on your deck can allow snow and ice to sit on them and damage those too.
6. Chimney Inspected
This sort of goes hand in hand with your heating unit check up, however it is worth mentioning on its own as it is so vital to have a chimney that is operating correctly to prevent carbon monoxide from entering your home. Most likely this will have to be left up to the professionals but it is a cheap insurance policy to guarantee the safety of your family.
7. Smoke, Fire, & Carbon Monoxide Detectors
I can not stress enough the importance of keeping back up batteries in the house for all of your detectors. Get fresh batteries in them NOW! It would also be a great idea to think about replacing all of your detectors if you think they are 10 years old or more. If you are unsure of where to put any detectors you think might be missing please reach out, I am happy to give you my recommendations. As a quick reference, you should have your smoke/fire detectors on the ceiling near every bedroom as well as your kitchen. Your Carbon monoxide detectors are highly suggested in the kitchen as well as placing one as close to the heating unit as possible.
Here are a few helpful links to guide you in where to place all detectors:
Where should I put my Carbon Monoxide detector?
Where should I put smoke detectors in my home?
8. Prep Your Snow Blower / Mower
Yep, I said mower. Simply put, make sure it is stored and ready for winter. Clean the underside of the deck and make sure it is winterized by ensuring the oil level is full as well as adding a fuel stabilizer. Once you are done with that you can head on over to that trusty snow blower. Give the ol’ girl a start and make sure it is ready for the snow to come! It couldn’t hurt to make sure your snow shovel is still in good condition as well as grabbing a bag of rock salt to prevent slips and falls on those icy days to come.
9. Rake / Mulch Fallen Leaves
Now is the best time to get rid of all those fallen leaves. Either take the time to mulch them with your mower or have some fun like I did when I was a kid and rake them into a pile and then jump right in! Either way it is ideal to ensure your lawn is free of laves and the optimal time to remove them is fall when towns and villages offer removal if placed at the curb. Just check with your local guidelines and pick times.
10. Check Your Sump Pump
With fall temperatures often come rain and that “other” form of precipitation. Most likely your home has a sump pump to ensure your basement stays dry during those heavy rain storms and high water levels in your soil throughout winter and into spring. No better time than the present to make sure your sump pump is operating as it should. Grab a bucket of water and slowly dump into your reservoir. Your sump pump should turn on with just a few gallons and remove the water you dumped in. If it doesnt, it may be time to have someone look at it to ensure it if functioning properly.
In Closing
Most of the items are pretty easy to do yourself. With countless resources to help now a days. I do think that making sure not only your home but you, yourself are ready for winter will make sleeping a lot easier with these long nights headed our way.
(Here come my sales pitch) Too busy to get this check list done? I do offer a winter check up package that can help you determine a proper course of action to really know exactly what your house needs to be ready for the winter. Please give me a call and I can book you an appointment to check over your house and ensure it is ready to go.
From my family to you and yours Happy Fall!