Easy Steps to Winterizing Your Home

What happens if you don’t winterize your home?

If you don’t winterize your home, you leave yourself vulnerable to a number of problems, including:

• Burst pipes and resultant water damage;

• roof damage and leaks;

• deterioration of exterior wood;

• mold growth;

• pest infestations;

• higher energy bills.

Some of these problems may necessitate expensive repairs. Some, like mold, pests and drafts, can cause health problems.

Why You Should Winterize Your Home

Cleaning expert Scott Schrader puts this in a nutshell: “Winterizing a home is ultimately about prevention. One weekend of preparation can spare a homeowner from costly repairs, the most common of which are damaged frozen pipes, energy loss and mold, which all come from skipping the winterizing process.”

Winterizing is also about comfort and good health. Drafts that blow through small cracks in your siding, foundation or around your windows and doors — cracks that you can easily fix — can make you feel cold, no matter how high you crank the thermostat. This makes you susceptible to winter ailments like colds and flu.

Let’s not forget about your home’s exterior. “When water is left inside sprinkler lines or backflow preventers, it can freeze, expand and cause pipes to crack or burst,” advises irrigation expert Trang Rose. Other simple ways to winterize your home quickly can help prevent damage to your roof and keep your pool safe from mold and freezing.

In short, says exterior designer Kriss Swint, “The right preparations can keep your home warm and inviting all season long, even boosting curb appeal and providing a high return on investment (ROI).”

When Should You Winterize Your Home?

Unless you have superpowers, you probably can’t accomplish all the tasks needed to completely winterize your home in a single weekend. Many of the tasks take little time, though, and you can easily do several of them on Saturday and Sunday. “By breaking fall maintenance into manageable monthly tasks,” says home renovator Paul Dashevsky, “you can stay ahead of seasonal challenges.” Here’s a sample timeline he suggests:

• September: Take care of issues with your roof and gutters.

• October: The weather is still good, so seal cracks in your home’s envelope, add extra insulation where needed and touch up exterior paint.

• November: Pressure wash the siding and, if needed, apply a refresher coat of paint or stain. According to Dashevsky, the cool weather actually helps exterior paint dry faster. This is also the deadline for winterizing the exterior plumbing and closing the pool.

• December: When the weather turns cold, focus on interior tasks.

  How To Winterize Your Home In a Weekend

  The amount of effort you need to put into winterization depends on the size of your home, its condition and the amenities you have (like a pool), so not every entry on this list applies to every home. Each one, however, is a way to winterize your home quickly, no matter its size or condition.

  Seal cracks

  Go outside and look for gaps and cracks in the siding, under the soffits and around door and window trim, and seal them with caulk. Now go inside and do the same around the interior door and window trim. “Windows are one of the most common places for leaks that let in cold air and moisture,” says Swint. She also advises installing door sweeps.

  This may take anywhere from a few hours to an entire day, depending on the condition of the trim and siding and whether or not you already have door sweeps.

  Clean the gutters

  “It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it,” quips Minnesota home inspector Ruben Salzman. “It’s important. Clogged gutters can lead to basement water problems and can make ice dam problems worse.”

  This is a ladder job (it isn’t safe to do it from the roof). It takes two to four hours for a single-story house and an hour or two longer for a high roof because of the time it takes to move around a tall ladder.

  Check the roof

  While you’ve got the ladder out, roofer Robert O’Sullivan recommends going on the roof (if it’s not too steep for walking), looking for damaged shingles to replace and sealing small gaps with roofing cement.

  
  Replace the thermostat batteries

  This is another suggestion from Salzman, who warns that a thermostat with low batteries may not activate the heating system. Not all thermostats take batteries, but if yours does, and you already have replacement batteries, the job shouldn’t take more than five minutes.

  Close the pool

  You can do this job over a weekend, according to pool service pro Jimmy Meese. “The process mainly involves cleaning, balancing chemicals and protecting your equipment from freeze damage.” He recommends this step-by-step procedure:

  • Skim the pool surface to remove leaves, bugs and debris;

  • Clean the filter and empty or rinse out the skimmer basket or net;

  • Use a test kit to check and balance the pool’s water chemistry;

  • Shock the water, add algaecide and apply winterizing chemicals;

  • Lower the water level to roughly six inches below the lowest plumbing line;

  • Clean out the pool pump;

  • Drain all plumbing lines and pool equipment to prevent freezing;

  • Securely install the winter pool cover.

  Drain exterior pipes

  This is a job to do before the freeze sets in, says Salzman, who recommends this two-step process:

  • Winterize the exterior faucets. “This means disconnecting hoses and draining the water out to prevent freeze damage.”

  • Hire a professional to blow out the lawn irrigation system (aka – sprinkler system). If you don’t blow it out in the fall, you’ll need to replace it in the spring.

  You also need to drain your garden hoses, roll them up and bring them inside. Freezing temperatures will damage them, so store them in a heated space.

  
  Do some basic pest control

  “When temperatures drop, and the first freeze of the year hits, rodents and other pests start looking for warm places to hide and food to keep them going,” advises pest control expert Jacob Cohn. “If your home isn’t properly protected, they can spend the winter in your walls, attic, and home.”

  When you seal your home, look for small cracks in the walls or foundation and seal them. Mice can squeeze through cracks as small as a dime. “It’s also important,” says Cohn, “to make sure any vents leading outside have screens on them.”

  You should also inspect the house for plumbing leaks and fix them, he says, because standing water can quickly become an attractant.

  Inspect furnace filters

  Schrader advises that a clean filter improves furnace efficiency and air quality in the home during heavy winter furnace use. Salzman doesn’t want you to forget the furnace’s air intake vent: “It gets dirty over the summer, and it’s important for this intake to be clean for your fuel-burning appliances to operate safely.”

  What Winterization Tasks Take Longer Than a Weekend?

  These aren’t ways to winterize your home quickly, and you might want to do some of them during the spring and summer before the weather turns cold.

  • Major roof repairs: “You need a pro with the right tools, permits, and safety know-how for these repairs,” says O’Sullivan, “and you don’t want to rush jobs that keep your home protected.” The roof repairs O’Sullivan cites include replacing old shingles, sealing HVAC vents, installing new gutters and insulating the attic.

  • Garage door replacement: Zillow, among others, has identified this as the highest ROI improvement you can make, but according to Swint, there’s more: “An outdated or poorly insulated garage door can be a significant source of heat loss, allowing cold air to seep into the home. New garage doors typically come with energy-efficient features, more robust insulation and improved weather sealing technology.”

  • Add insulation: You can blow extra insulation into your attic in a weekend, but that won’t keep you warm if the walls and crawl space are poorly insulated. Insulating the walls is a bigger project that usually requires professional help.

  • Replace doors and windows: Double-pane windows and insulated entry doors prevent heat loss and save energy. You’ll probably need a pro to retrofit your old ones, and it won’t happen in a weekend.

  • Call Pro Restoration Solutions today to schedule an appointment for winterizing services.