Winterize your home to reduce flood damage disasters
Winterize Your Home to Prevent Problems
Surely by now you have pulled your winter clothes out of storage and found your hat, gloves and boots at the back of the closet. But what about your home? Is it ready for the winter months?
You will be a lot less happy and comfortable this winter if you have not protected your home from Old Man Winter. There are a few things you should do as a homeowner to assure that you will sail through the coldest part of the year without something catastrophic happening. For starters, get outside and clean out those gutters. Once the leaves have fallen from the trees you need to get up on a ladder wearing a pair of gloves and proceed to pull the gunk out of the gutters. You can use a scraper or spatula to make it a bit easier. Next take your garden hose and rinse the gutters out so that the cold rains and melting snow can drain away. Clogged drain spouts can form ice dams which causes water to seep inside your home. Be sure to check for leaks and mis-aligned pipes and be sure that the downspouts are directed out and away from the foundation of your home.
Another important task you must undertake is to check your furnace. Turn the furnace on and take notice if the strong, odd smell that is emitted lasts more than a few minutes. If it smell does lasts longer than five minutes, shut the furnace off and call in a professional because it most likely needs to be cleaned and tuned. It will cost you around $100 to have your furnace serviced but it is money very well spent. Many a home fire has started in the furnace so be sure to set some money aside to have your furnace professionally checked and serviced.
If you have a fireplace, that means you have a chimney. You need to have your chimney inspected each fall and cleaned if it is dirty. Do not put off your chimney needs before you use the fireplace. You do not want to risk having a chimney fire start because this type of fire tends to go unnoticed until it suddenly spreads out of control. If you have a wood stove at home it will need to be swept by a professional as well.
Just one burst pipe in the winter time is a nightmare and can create substanital amounts of water damage. Before Jack Frost takes a bite out of your pipes make sure that you take the time to wrap your pipes with specially-made pipe insulation. Be especially careful to wrap those pipes that run through crawl spaces and in the basement because these pipes run through unheated space, meaning that they are prone to freezing and bursting.
Finally, check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Replace the batteries and conduct tests to make sure that every single one is working. If you take the time to do the above, you should not become a victim of winter.
