Winter is coming...and that means that your house has to be storm-tight and ready. Cold weather, storms, and decreased accessibility all call for a few chores before fall finishes. Here’s a checklist of things that will need to be done so that you don’t run into problems as the cold weather hits.
- Insulate pipes: One of the biggest dangers to your home during wintertime is frozen pipes. As water resting in the pipes freezes, it expands, a force that puts more pressure on the pipes than they can bear. It can also cause blockages in the pipes that lead to leaking and flooding, a really unwelcome problem in the middle of a cold winter night. Most often, frozen pipes happen when someone leaves town for the holidays and the house is left cold. In order to prevent this expensive and inconvenient problem, insulate internal pipes, keep the house warm when you leave (or turn off the water and drain the faucets) and insulate and drain external faucets and pipelines. Here’s an article with more information, if you need it.
- Trim the grass short: Good lawncare includes prepping for the next spring. In order to do that
- effectively, you’ll want to clear any debris from the lawn, including grass clippings and fallen leaves.
- Leaving this debris can lead to fungal growth over winter, and impede access to light and therefore
- growth in the spring. Trimming the grass short means that there’s plenty of access to light for the
- lawn come spring, and there will be less dead, brown grass visible in the winter. It’s also wise
- during this time to aerate, rake the lawn, and weed.
- Close and seal any cracks: Insects and rodents don’t like the cold, either. In fact, they’ll often
- look for a way into your house so that they too can enjoy the furnace and insulation. Before it gets
- too cold, do a perimeter sweep of your house with a caulking gun. Check for any cracks around
- windows and doors, or in random spots on your walls. See if there are holes in the walls from
- utility lines or ventilation that could be better sealed. In some cases, you might want to put a mesh
- screen over ventilation shafts to prevent pests from getting into your home.
- Weather-proof: Throughout the winter, you’ll want to get the most out of your HVAC system. You
- also want to avoid uncomfortable drafts. Put up insulating curtains, or put an insulating film over
- the window. Check the weather stripping around doors and windows (or install it if you haven’t
- already) including a door-sweep at the bottom to keep cold air from getting in around cracks. This
- also helps prevent pests.
- Get emergency essentials and food storage. If you’re in a snowy area, you’ve been through
- snowed-in hunker-down storms before. Sometimes winter storm warnings are just a lot of bluster
- (no pun intended) but all the same, it’s good to be prepared. If you’re snowed in for a week without
- access to the grocery store, water becomes unavailable, or the power goes out during a cold night
- , you want to have food, emergency water, flashlights, and sturdy blankets available for you and
- the whole family.
- Check fire alarms and carbon monoxide alarm batteries. During winter, the risk of smoke and
- carbon dioxide poisoning goes up significantly. This is because we have all our windows closed,
- and we’re much more likely to use items that contribute to a house fire risk and carbon dioxide
- poisoning. So, go through the house and check the alarms to make sure that they’re functional and
- they have plenty of battery power.
- Check the insulation in the attic and walls. Did you know that insulation breaks down over time,
- and thus becomes less effective at its job? It’s recommended that you add more insulation every
- few years, depending on the insulation you buy and the weather conditions of your home.
- Sometimes, it’s best to rip out old insulation and add something entirely new since new insulation
- gets more and more effective, and old insulation can be a great hiding place for pests, along with
- dust and allergens. You can have a professional inspection by an HVAC specialist to see how
- much you can save on energy costs with new insulation.
- Disconnect and drain outdoor hoses and turn off external water. Usually, we turn off outdoor
- water in the winter. You’ll also want to drain your spigots to ensure that there’s no resting water
- inside. To do this, turn off the water at the shutoff valve, and then turn on external faucets until they
- stop running any water. This is also important to do with an irrigation system if you have lawn
- sprinklers. Ask for a professional’s help with this job.
- Check trees around your house. In the winter, dead branches are dislodged by the weight of snow and the pressure of windy storms. Look around your house for dangerous branches that could become problematic in a winter storm. Some pruning jobs are small, but often hazard pruning is a big, difficult job, and you’ll want to call a professional. If branches are close to utility lines overhead, call the utility company to deal with it. This is also a great time to prepare all of your landscaping for the winter months.
- Inspect the chimney. Planning to have a crackling hearth fire this winter? First, have it inspected
- by a professional. It may need to be cleaned out to ensure that any fires are safe, and smoke is
- effectively channeled out of your home. Make sure that the chimney flue is closed when the
- fireplace isn’t in use and opened when it is.
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