Preparing Your Home For Cold Weather
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The cold weather months are right around the corner. But if you’re not careful and don’t take the proper preventative measures when it comes to prepping your home for winter, it can cost you big time in potential property damage, elevated utilities costs and contents damage. There are many things that you do to safeguard your home from winter weather, but we’ve highlighted three big ones that you want to make sure you definitely take care of:
Store Your Outdoor Furniture
Outdoor furniture is great to have, but if you’re not taking proper care of it during the cold weather months, it’s not going to last long. That’s why we strongly advise you to move any outdoor furniture into sheds, garages or storage units until spring. Minimally, you should at least be sure to cover the furniture with some sort of protective tarp.
Seal Air Leaks/Insulate
It’s expensive to keep a home comfortable during the winter, so do yourself a favor this fall and look for areas of the home that are aiding in heat loss. Check the sealing around doors and windows and re-caulk when necessary. Consider purchasing some window insulators to place over your windows and weather strips that you can tuck under entry doors. Both help minimize heat loss and reduce drafts. The savings will all add up in the long run, your HVAC equipment will run less and your home will ultimately be more comfortable.
Drain Outdoor Faucets
A busted pipe can lead to extensive property damage. That’s why it’s important to shut off the water to any exterior spigots and then open up said spigots so that any leftover water drains from the faucets. If water is left in the pipes, it’s likely to freeze, expand and burst. This can lead to extensive water damage.
Cold weather preparation is essential for any home, and while there are certainly many more things that you can do to prepare for the winter months, the aforementioned list is a great place to start.