When winter is coming, that means it’s time to take care of the condition of the house and prepare it for frost, and heavy rainfall. How to winterize your home – a question for which we’ve prepared a list of important tips. Before the onset of cold weather, be sure to check your house for damage or leaks in the roof.
So that winter does not come to your house as an unexpected guest, it is worth paying close attention to such an important event as preparing the house for winter. Preserving heat in the walls is the main goal that the homeowner pursues before the onset of the cold period.
The question of whether to winterize home can only be answered in the affirmative. An illiterate and unprofessional approach to adapting your home to the frosty months, like for example, the lack of electric snow blowers can lead to unpleasant consequences, such as:
- Lack of comfort for living on the premises
- Excessive resources for heating a poorly insulated building
- Disruption of the utilities, damage to property.
A comfortable temperature for most residents of houses and apartments is 22–25 degrees Celsius, but in order to maintain such a level of heat in a home not prepared for the cold season, increased consumption of gas or electricity, wood or coal is required. The costs of homeowners increase several times to hundreds of euros for the period of heating.
Equipment failure is frequent due to its enhanced mode of operation, that is, maintenance costs and the cost of replacing worn parts of the heating system are added to raw material costs. The financial costs are large, but they can be made much more acceptable if the preparation of the house for the cold starts long before the winter season and covers all the weak areas of the private cottage. So let’s discuss how to winterize an irrigation system for a home, winterize home plumbing, and more. To do home winterizing, you may require warm work gloves which will not let your hands freeze while you work.
Winterize your home checklist
A roof that is decades old requires special attention when inspecting, and a new roof may not withstand the winter cold if its shortcomings are not eliminated in time. With a visual inspection, it is worth evaluating the roof for deformation, mold or rust, and checking for damage. It is necessary to evaluate the branches of trees in the immediate vicinity – how safe they are and whether the roof covering will be damaged by icing or snowfall. Inspection and cleaning of the chimney, exhaust ducts are also objectively necessary before the onset of the heating season.
Do not forget about security. On the roof, it is necessary to install snow retainers that will not allow the sliding of large snow layers on the residents of the house or passers-by walking around the yard. Already in winter, it is strongly recommended to clean the edge of the roof of icicles, the severity of which can not only injure a person when falling on top of him but also cause deformation or collapse of the roof. Checking the integrity and safety of the roof, it’s proper warming, and the presence of holes, cracks are important points of the action program «How to winterize home».
The heating of the house and the walls helps
It is important to know that effective insulation of the walls can only be done from the outside: when approaching from the inside, a wall with defects remains in the zone of low temperatures and remains vulnerable to an aggressive environment – at high humidity, negative temperatures. Internal insulation also takes up the useful area by the thickness of the insulation, requires expensive finishing work of the room.
External insulation is most often based on “wet” and “dry” options. In the first case, layers of insulation (polystyrene foam boards or heat-insulating wool with a help of electric caulk gun) are attached to the wall, and plaster is applied after reinforcement; the thickness of its layer depends on the density of the insulation. For a dry finish, use sandwich panels or ventilated facades.
Winterize home tips – one more important thing to keep in mind
If you want to winterize home windows, they must be thoroughly washed, and not only for aesthetics: additional sunlight is a source of light and heat, so necessary in the cold season. In addition, in the autumn, it is necessary to dismantle the mosquito net, which will improve the illumination and heating of the premises, prevent the accumulation of dust and keep the net from temperature and humidity changes, prolonging its service life. It is also necessary to grease with silicone or replace the window seal, treat metal fittings with machine oil.
How to prepare the territory of the house for winter
Properly prepared for the cold weather, the house will be warm and cozy in winter. And there are also many cheap ways to winterize your home. Not only the dwelling but also the local area needs annual preparation for the winter. In anticipation of the first frosts, it is necessary to drain the water from containers stored in the fresh air, turn off the taps with water, drain its residues from pipes and hoses, sprayers for watering plants. For winter storage in a warm room, it’s worth removing the equipment: lawnmowers, water pumps, removable electrical appliances, and some solar-powered lamps (according to manufacturer’s recommendations). And what tips would you like to share with us?
Author’s Bio: Kay Burton is a writer, blogger, and traveler. He likes to write about design, furniture, and modern technology.
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