‘Tis The Season for Winter Home Care

Proactive winter home care can make your house more comfortable during the cold months, reduce your maintenance costs the following spring, and help keep your utility bills under control during a season when they’re prone to spiking.

Here are our top seven winter home care tips for homeowners:

Seal your windows tight

Bad window seals are one of most common sources of energy loss, especially in older houses. When your windows aren’t sealed correctly, rooms feel drafty and your heating bills balloon.

There are a variety of different ways to seal your windows effectively using plastic wrap, caulk, or putty, but it’s important to choose the technique that’s best for your window frames and meets your aesthetic goals.

Prevent your pipes from freezing

To keep ice from ruining your pipes, insulate plumbing that you know runs through colder sections of your house or is used to carry primarily cold water. It’s also important to keep your thermostat set to at least 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

Turning off the garden hose flies under the radar for many homeowners, but those supply pipes are among the most commonly burst. Be sure you shut off the flow of water to external spouts.

Spread fertilizer in your yard for the spring

If you fertilize your lawn or yard a few weeks before the ground freezes, you can lock those nutrients into your topsoil and set yourself up for an incredible growing year.

Fall fertilizing is all about timing and coverage. If it’s your first time fertilizing in the off-season, consult a guide or do some research to determine what schedule and type of fertilizer is best for your climate, area, and growing goals. 

Double-check the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors

During the winter, your house will be sealed up tight and filled with hot radiators, plug-in space heaters, wood or pellet stoves, and even electric blankets and light-up holiday decorations.

That means you’re at greater risk from a fire beginning inside your house than at any other time during the year. Double-check the batteries on your smoke detectors before you start your winter heating.

If you’re burning wood or pellets, it’s especially important to have a carbon monoxide alarm near your stove and any sleeping quarters in order to protect you and your family in the event of an air quality issue.

Get your chimney inspected and cleaned by an expert

Depending on your primary heating system, dangerous creosote might be building up in your chimney, and identifying it with an untrained eye through a tiny trap door is incredibly difficult.

That’s why you need a professional chimney sweep or heating and ventilation technician to make sure your chimney is safe before you start stepping up use in the cold months. A chimney sweep can quickly and easily clean away existing buildup, install or change a chimney sleeve, and make long-term maintenance recommendations. 

Clear and secure your roof

If you live in an area where snow will be sitting on your roof for weeks or months at a time, it’s important that you’re set up to keep all that water outside the house when the thaw comes. That means securing all your shingles, checking for potential leaks around seams, and clearing the gutters one last time.

If trees dumped a bunch of leaves or needles on your roof in the fall, clear those away ahead of the winter weather. If you don’t, they’ll turn into a sludgy mud that will leave a mess in the spring and promote the growth of algae on your roof.

Prepare your yard for winter weather

If you got a lot of use out of your yard in the summertime, there are probably lots of great pieces of outdoor furniture, eye-catching décor items, and tools and toys in your outdoor space. Keeping them good for next year requires protecting them from the winter weather and bringing them indoors.

You also need to wrap or cover younger trees and smaller shrubs to help them keep their shape and prevent ice and snow from damaging their limbs. 

At Legacy Homes, we want to always ensure that our customers receive the most value in their home, and that includes meeting Energy Efficiency standards. We are a TVA Platinum Certified Builder and 4 Times Best In Business Award winner. Be sure to read more about our certifications and accomplishments on our website! Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!