Before It Gets Cold: 5 Winterization Tips for Homeowners

Often homeowners wait until the last minute to prepare their homes for winter, or the forget altogether and end up dealing with it when the cold months have already begun. In order to keep your home safe, stay warm, and reduce stress it is essential that you winterize in advance before it gets cold. Here are 5 winterization prep tips for homeowners that are simple and effective.

1. Have your furnace inspected. You never want to find out that you will need to be purchasing a new furnace in the middle of winter! Instead, be proactive and have the furnace inspected, serviced and repaired in advance. This will help to avoid surprises so that your furnace can keep your home warm all winter long.
2. Clean your gutters. You don’t want to worry about your gutters freezing when the temperature drops below zero! Be sure to clean out the gutters in order to remove debris such as leaves, sticks, dirt and more. This will ensure that water is not dammed up and blocked.When water can pass through the gutters without obstructions, water will not settle so it won’t freeze! This can reduce serious spring clean up after the winter months and will also protect you do you don’t need to completely replace a broken gutter system on your house.
3. Drain hoses in your back yard and make sure the water is turned off. There’s nothing worse come spring than to find out that all of your hoses are frozen or cracked when you want to water your garden. To prevent damage, be sure to let all water empty from the hose and then completely shut the water off to ensure there is nothing left to freeze.
4. Make sure your pipes inside the house are insulated properly to prevent freezing or bursting. Often pipes that are close to the outside of your home may not be kept warm enough. This especially happens in basements or under sinks. You can apply an insulation sleeve around pipe easily for a simple weekend project.
5. Finally, buy ice salt for your home to use when the weather gets cold. Don’t wait to buy this until you need it, have it stored at home. Ice melt can help you to keep visitors, family members and yourself safe when walking on walkways and driveways. This will prevent the development or ice, or help to melt it quickly so that walking and driving are not a problem. Lay it out what you are expecting freezing temperatures and moisture, or after areas get icy.

All of those tips are excellent ways to winterize your home for winter in anticipation of the cold months. Being prepared will help you to enjoy peace of mind during the winter knowing your home an your family are safe and warm all season long. In addition, being proactive will reduce problems or emergencies in the winter and could help you to avoid having to buy a new furnace when you need heat the most!