Let’s face it, friends. Winter is coming. And you know what that means, right? Cold weather. Storms. And the 4-letter S word…S-N-O-W.

You know what else it means? It’s time to winterize your home.

Yep! By taking the time to winterize your home, you ultimately save yourself from expensive repairs, significant stress, and a whole lot of wasted time. And seriously, who’s going to turn that down? Not me!

Let’s do this, shall we?

It’s time to Winterize Your Home: 4 Tips

Clean your Gutters

As we near the end of the fall season, and most of the leaves have fallen from the trees, it’s time to clean out those gutters.

Why, you ask? Because if you don’t, you can damage your home. It’s as simple as that.

Superficially, blocked gutters can stain the outside of your house, which leads to the expensive and time consuming task of repainting or re-siding.

Even worse, the water can actually seep into your house, which causes major leaks, dampness, and the dreaded mold <shudder>.

Finally, those piles of leaves in your gutter also create a warm place for beehives, pests, and rodents, all of which which make me shiver just thinking about them. No thank you!

Long story short, clean out those gutters and save yourself a long-term headache.

Pipes

For my fellow friends who live in the cold weather extremes, you know all about the threat that freezing temperatures pose to our water pipes.

With quickly falling temperatures, pipes can easily freeze and potentially burst, which – let’s face it – is a total nightmare.

Broken pipes can cause thousands of dollars in damage, be it ruined flooring, appliances, or furniture. It can also cause issues with your electricity. Yikes!

Fortunately, there are many simple DIY steps you can do to prevent this situation from unfolding. First of all, you can quickly and easily insulate the pipes. You simply buy foam pipe coverings from Home Depot, Lowes, or any other DIY hardware store, and put them around your pipes. They are inexpensive, easy to fit, and make a big difference.

Another tip for protecting your pipes on especially cold nights is to open up your kitchen and bathroom cupboards. This simple step allows the warm air from your house to circulate around the plumbing and warm things up a bit.

Finally, on the very coldest of nights, you can turn on your tap so it continually drips throughout the night. You only need a trickle of water, and really helps prevent frozen pipes.

HVAC Inspection

With the cold weather months upon us, it’s no secret that we put extra pressure on our heating system.

To avoid any unnecessarily chilly nights, be sure to call your local heating and air conditioning company for a tune up. By getting a heating and central ac repair done each year, you ensure toasty comfort all winter long.

KEEP IN THE HEAT

Since you’ve just given your HVAC a tune up, you better make sure that heat stays in your home!

If you deal with drafts or cold spots in your house, check out these simple ways to keep in the heat.

First of all, consider installing a storm door and a door sweep. The former adds one more layer of insulation from the outside wind, while the door sweep helps prevent cold air from creeping underneath the bottom of your door.

You can also weatherstrip your doors and windows with foam, which, again, helps block out that bitter cold.

There are also quick fixes like insulating your windows or simply putting down draft stoppers. You can tackle these tasks in under an hour, and the payoff is well worth it. Not only are you much warmer, but you’re also saving on your energy bills. It’s a definite win-win.

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And that’s it! Follow these four easy strategies to winterize your home, and you’re on your way to a warm, safe, and happy winter.

Question:

Are you ready for winter? How do you weather-proof your home? Let me know below!