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I know it’s a bit late for this, but I figured that it is better late than never. It is still
winter, and it is still very cold in some places. Today I would like to give you some tips for
winterizing your home.
Keeping the cold weather out!
The wind never seems to stop blowing at night during the winter, with it, it brings bone chilling
air. That freezing air can find its way into your house, if you haven’t took the steps to prepare
your house for the winter. Wind can come through window sills, and through part’s of your
roof and basement. But a good portion of cold air comes from the door’s leading to the outside.
If you want to help keep cold air out and warm air in from your outside door’s, you can use a Door Draft Stopper They are easy to install and they work as soon
as you put them up. They are good for keeping the cold wind out during the winter and they are good
for keeping the cold air in during the summer. They are also good for keeping bug’s out year-round.
If you notice that you feel a cool breeze coming from around your window sill, you can take
a look at the outside of the window, if the caulking look’s old or is coming off, you should
pick up some exterior-grade silicone sealant/caulk. You could also just seal it from the inside, which could be easier for you, I have found a great video for that down below!
You can find it at your local hardware store. You will want to go ahead and remove all of the old caulking, once it is all gone, be sure to clean the area up well, where you will be putting the new seal, that will help prevent any early failure’s.
Once it is cleaned up and dry, you will want to apply the caulking to the outer edge of the window frame.
Make sure you go all the way around and don’t skip any spot’s. You will need to look at the tube, it should say how long it need’s to set up for, you will want to make sure that there isn’t going to be any storms coming before it’ll have time to properly set up and seal.
How to keep your pipes from freezing and busting!
With the freezing temperature’s, you may wake up one day to find you have no water to take a shower. That is usually because your water pipe’s have become frozen. Once pipes freeze, they can bust easily.
Here is a great video I found going over the pros and cons of Pex, Copper CPVC
I had that issue a lot when I used pvc/cpvc to plumb my old house. I then decided to go with Pex piping. I had looked around locally, but they were awfully expensive, so I decided to look online, the best price I could find was on amazon, I had went ahead and bought some.
I got PexFlow I ordered 200′ of pipe, 100′ of blue and 100′ of red. I went with
the 1/2″ for all the house plumbing, but I went with the 1″ to go from the water main to the house.
I also went with the SharkBite push to connect fitting’s They made things so much easier than having to buy the crimper tool and mess with all that while I was up under the house with poor visibility.
Although they are more expensive, I took a gamble on them and won! I never had any issues with pipe’s busting anymore. Now even though I still had some issues with the pipes freezing, I never had another pipe, or connector bust.
I went ahead and bought some pipe insulation tubing that would prevent any more frozen pipe’s, I just went to the local hardware store for that. I don’t suggest the pipe heating tape, they can cause fire’s and run your electric bill up.
How to keep your outside walkway’s clear
When there is a snow or ice storm, thing’s can get very slick. No one wants to slip and fall! You can pick up bags of salt rock from most store’s during the winter month’s.
Before any snow or ice fall’s, you will want to treat your drive way and sidewalk’s and any other walk way that can become slick. This will help melt the snow and ice as it is coming down and it makes less work from having to shovel all the snow away, now it’ll still get some snow on the treated area’s but it’ll help melt away what it can and it’ll give you traction for when you are out there shoveling the snow away.
One thing I have found out, is that if you have someone walking along a sidewalk that runs at the front of your property and they slip and fall or get injured, they can actually sue you. I don’t know if that is every where, but that is the way it is in some places.
You could save your back and pay some of the neighborhood kid’s to shovel all the snow away. I’ve noticed that kid’s are always wanting something, but don’t have money to get it, hard work never hurt.
Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Since we all use some form of heat to keep warm during the winter, you want to invest in a good smoke and carbon monoxide detector.
You can buy combo packs just about anywhere, they are usually pretty cheap.
If you decide to go with a hardwired/battery operated set, you might want to get an electrician if you’re not familiar with electricity.
Contact an HVAC specialist
If you have a central heat and air unit, you will want to get it inspected before it starts to turn off cold. You can usually get better rates if done out of season.
This can not only save you time and money but it can also ensure you stay warm throughout the winter. You don’t want to skip out on the inspection and have the unit go out on you when its 3 Degrees out.
Stock up on fire wood
If you use wood to heat your house then you should already have wood stockpiled and ready to use. But maybe this is the first season using a wood burning stove. Either way you want to make sure you have plenty to last you through winter!
You will also want to clean out your chimney, this will help promote better airflow. If you don’t already have one, you should consider putting a screen over the chimney that way bird’s and other critters won’t get in.
Clean out your gutter system!
If you fail to clean out the gutters regularly then you run the risk of having blockages and even sagging of the gutter system. That will prevent it from working properly.
If you aren’t able to clean it out yourself, you could hire a hand, or a company that is insured, that way if they fall and get injured, the companies insurance should cover everythig instead of them having to come after you financially!
Seeing more mice?
If you notice that you are starting to see more mice, you could call a local exterminator, or you can pick up some mouse trap’s and place them around your house where you see them. I don’t suggest poison if you have pet’s.
I have heard that house cat’s get very ill or even killed by eating a mouse that had ate the poison but hasn’t died yet. I would stay away from them, but if you don’t have animal’s then it is a pretty good solution. I hope that you have found these tip’s for winterizing your home helpful, stay warm this winter!