As soon as the winter season arrives, the warm summer days feel like an old memory. The thick blankets occupy your bed, and everyone looks for a cup of hot coffee. The heaters start running almost full-time to remove the chill from rooms. It can be challenging to tolerate the dipping temperatures for anyone. That’s why winterizing your home on time is essential. You and your loved ones will be safe. But this is equally critical for your home’s health too. So, you must not miss it. Otherwise, most of your fittings and fixtures will be at risk of damage due to freezing weather.
You wouldn’t want this at any cost, whether you recently decked up your elegant restroom with stylish metallic faucet or your kitchen with a contemporary sink or did some other home improvement work. Without this also, it makes sense to make your home winterproof. Here is a small checklist to help you take care of every corner of the house with proper planning.
Pipes or plumbing lines
Burst pipes can be common winter incidents in some parts of the United States as the water tends to expand when freezing, causing ruptures or cracks in the pipes. These can occur between a faucet and the freeze. Due to the blockage in the pipe, water pressure shoots up and leads to breakage. Many North American homes keep their pipes in insulated spaces to lower this risk. But if your plumbing lines are in the exterior walls, you will want to be more careful. As prevention, you can look for gaps in the walls, basement, crawlspace, and attic to seal them. You also have to check the hose spigots. Windows and doors in the basement and crawlspace would require weatherstripping.
You can insulate pipes with pipe sleeves with the help of duct tape. Besides that, you can opt for thermostat-controlled heat cables recommended for lines.
Weatherproofing
Some homeowners install storm doors and windows to stop cold air from invading the house or heat leaving it. You can use weather strips also. These methods will have a remarkable impact on your utility bills. You get various choices in weatherstrippings, such as felt, foam tape, door sweeps, and tension seal. All this has some unique characteristics. For example, tension seals can be stainless steel/ aluminum/ vinyl materials suitable for double-hung or sliding windows. You can use them on doors also. You can depend on this for its durability and invisibility.
Foam tapes can be PVC, rubber, or vinyl base. You can seal window seams, attic hatches, and door frames with them. These affordable tapes offer an excellent installation experience. But these cannot withstand friction and dampness. On the other hand, door sweeps can be stainless steel or aluminum structures with vinyl, plastic, felt, or sponge teeth. These easy-to-install solutions are perfect for the inside part of the door. Apart from them, felt is wool or synthetic material that can be helpful for hinged doors and windows. Price and installation are no concern.
Fireplace
Wood tar or animal nests can be risky for this place. Before lighting it up, you must get it inspected at the beginning of the season. You can hire a professional to clean your chimney or do it yourself. If you take up this responsibility, you must separate the grate and andirons from your firebox and clean them with a nylon brush to eliminate soot. Do it outside your house to avoid staining the area. Once the black matter has faded, you can rinse them with water and dry them. You can restore their finish with metal polish also. In the fireplace, you will notice ashes and dirt. You have to remove them with a shovel.
As soon as the significant part is clean, you can use a nylon brush on the fireplace’s walls for the remaining cleaning task. Don’t forget to spread a piece of newspaper on the floor to capture all the soot. Start cleaning from the top and then move down. Once finished, you can discard the newspaper. After this, it will be time for deep cleaning. Bring warm water, Trisodium Phosphate (TSP) solution, and bleach. Create a mixture of these components in an adequate amount and rub it with the brush on the fireplace’s floor and walls. Make sure you wear a hands glove while doing this job. When cleaned, you can use fresh water to rinse those areas and dry them.
Gutters
It is another critical part of your winterizing effort. Experts suggest pursuing the task of gutter cleaning immediately after the end of the fall season. You can inspect gutters for clogging. If you find leaves or other materials, make sure to remove them. Keeping this space clean is necessary for the winter to help snow to melt and drain smoothly. Some people don’t like this task. As prevention, they install gutter guards, which can be available in PVC or stainless steel. These can stop pine needles, leaves, sand grit, and other elements from entering the gutter. You can brush them off regularly for a bit of cleanliness.
Plants/ garden
Before the first cold bout of the season, you have to get all your plants and growing trees inside. Typically, this work should happen when temperatures are less than 45 degrees F. Also, you have to protect your plants from pest problems and tree trunks from cracking. You can ensure these things in several ways. For gardens, activities like mowing, aeration, reseeding, weed removal, fertilizing, and composting can be helpful. So do some research and save your beautiful garden and plantations.
These are only a few examples. You can investigate every single corner of the house to figure out how you can winterproof them. If this seems to be a task, you can contact professionals for assistance. Regardless of what path you choose, it would help to remember that you are safe when your house is safe. When you take care of it, you essentially take care of yourself and your family members. Hence, don’t skimp on these things.
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