Oh yes, it's that time of year again. Dig out the sweaters, and the turtlenecks, and the boots. Where are my wool socks? If my feet are warm, I'm warm. (HaHaHa)
You need to begin to plan for the next season so here are 10 tips to help you prepare:
1) DOWNSPOUTS AND GUTTERS - Keep them clean. As the leaves fall they will surely clog them all up and the water and snow and ice will not move away from the home as it should. There are some handy, dandy tools on the market to help you with this, check out your local Lowe's or Home Depot store. Or if you like the old fashioned way, like me, climb up on that ladder and clean them out by hand.
2) CRACKS AND CREVICES - Many of these are difficult to find but they all need to be filled as best you can. If you don't the cold sure does come in and usually the little critters too. Once I found a small hole by walking into my crawl space on a sunny day without turning any lights on in the crawl space and sure enough, I saw daylight. That little bitty hole would never have been found otherwise.
3) FILTERS - Furnace filters - input new ones before the season begins. Air conditioning filters - clean them before you pack them away or cover them for the season. Humidifier - clean those filters before the season begins too and don't forget the bacteriostat.
4) ALARMS - Double check that your carbon monoxide detector, your smoke detectors, and any other alarms you may have are in working order. I use the time change as my "memory trigger" to replace the batteries in my smoke detectors.
5) FIREPLACE CHIMNEY - An ABSOLUTE MUST! Please have these cleaned EVERY YEAR. More fires are started from chimney fires than anything else during the winter time and many deaths are caused from smoke inhalation from clogged chimneys too. It is truly best to have these done professionally rather than trying to do it yourself.
6) SUPPORTS FOR HEAVY SNOW - As the snow piles up through the season many items cannot bear the weight. Do you have enough porch or deck support? As the snow melts and then refreezes it becomes even heavier don't forget. I learned this the hard way last year but not clearing enough snow off of my deck.
7) MICE BAIT - No matter how hard we try to fill in every little crack and crevice they always seem to find their way into the attic over the winter. Put out your bait to dispose of them as soon as they enter. You'll be glad you did.
8) SNOW REMOVAL - How's the snowblower running? Don't wait until the first snow to have it in top running condition or wait until the first snow to call someone to plow. They are very hard to reach if they are out plowing. DIG OUT THOSE SHOVELS - they've worked their way to the back of the garage over the summer so find them now and check for handle stability.
9) STOCK UP ON ICE MELT - Don't get caught not having it available when you need it. Get those first few bags and be prepared.
10) CRAWL SPACES - Is it closed up tight and is the heater working? You need to protect those pipes from freezing and keeping it warm will also help to keep the house warm too.
11) POWER WASH YOUR HOUSE - Keeping your home clean of debri, mold and mildew build-up, etc will help to retain value and help prevent costly repairs down the road. Check out this "House Logic" article
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