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10 Simple Tips to Winterize Your Home

By
Real Estate Agent with Oregon First

10 Simple Tips to Winterize Your Home

Now that fall has almost ended, it's time to think ahead and prepare your home for winter. These simple tips can make your home more comfortable, reduce energy consumption, and go a long way to reducing any future repair costs.Tigard real estate agent

•1.       Clean your gutters and downspouts.  Debris can cause water backup and ice dams in some climates. Make sure your gutters drain away from the house.

•2.       Cover foundation vents to prevent cold air from getting under the house and freezing pipes. Remove the covers in the spring.

•3.       Add insulation if needed. Look in your attic. If you can see the beams, you need additional insulation. Check with your local utility to see if they offer any incentives for adding insulation.

•4.       Replace your furnace filter. Turn off the gas and electric and vacuum all accessible areas.

•5.        Turn off the water to any exterior water pipes or wrap them if they have no shut off valve.

•6.       Install your storm windows if you have single pane windows.

•7.       Seal and insulate your heating ducts. Crawl under the house and see if any ductwork has separated. Repair, seal, and insulate as needed. Use the "foil type" duct tape.

•8.       Inspect your doors. Replace any worn out thresholds and weather stripping.

•9.       Install a programmable thermostat. This can save you up to 20% of your winter heating costs.

•10.   Check your fireplace and chimney. Repair any cracks in the mortar and make sure the flue is clean and free of any bird or animal nests.

 

Posted by

I can save you money on buying, selling, and owning a home in Tigard Oregon.

Tigard real estate agent

Wayne B. Pruner, GRI, Realtor, Principal Real Estate Broker - Oregon First

Mobile phone: 503-891-0795

email:  waynepruner@oregonfirst.com

website: Tigard Oregon Homes

Licensed in the State of Oregon

Comments (39)

Ryan Case
Pacific Servicing - Temecula, CA

Thank you for the tips! Luckily we dont have to winterize in this market

Oct 30, 2010 05:45 PM
Tni LeBlanc, Realtor®, J.D.
Mint Properties, Lic. #01871795 - Santa Maria, CA
Tenacious Tni (805) 878-9879

These are important tips.  In my area, people don't do their maintenance regularly because the weather is good and we don't have regular type seasons.  But, it can be a nightmare come time to sell. 

Oct 30, 2010 06:30 PM
Sharon Lewis
Keller Williams Realty,Cary, North Carolina - Cary, NC
Your Cary/Durham Agent

Good list, but didn't this article come from somewhere else? Perhaps you edited it, but you still need to say where you got it from....msn.....

Oct 30, 2010 10:59 PM
K.C. McLaughlin
RE/MAX United - Cary, NC
Realtor, e-PRO, Homes for Sale - Cary, Raleigh NC

Great list. I was just thinking about finding my list of winterization tips that I sent out to my clients last year and tweeking it. Thanks for the post as a reminder and the information too.

Oct 31, 2010 12:12 AM
Kathy Kenney
Keller Williams, Princeton, NJ - Robbinsville, NJ
Realtor - Princeton & Central NJ Homes for Sale

Good tips, not looking forward to winter!  A warm climate becomes more enticing every year!

Oct 31, 2010 01:17 AM
Eric Michael
Remerica Integrity, Realtors®, Northville, MI - Livonia, MI
Metro Detroit Real Estate Professional 734.564.1519

Thanks for the tips, Wayne. Too bad the reo properties don't follow your list.

Oct 31, 2010 02:15 AM
Frank Castaldini
Compass - San Francisco, CA
Realtor - Homes for Sale in San Francisco

Great tips.  It's like a new list to me since I live in San Francisco and for the most part we almost never freeze.  Still there are good tips on this list for everyone, like cleaning out the gutters.  Thanks

Oct 31, 2010 02:45 AM
Michael Setunsky
Woodbridge, VA
Your Commercial Real Estate Link to Northern VA

Wayne, these are some pretty good tips. After all the snow we got last year, these will do the trick. Thanks.

Oct 31, 2010 03:07 AM
Jennifer Fivelsdal
JFIVE Home Realty LLC | 845-758-6842|162 Deer Run Rd Red Hook NY 12571 - Rhinebeck, NY
Mid Hudson Valley real estate connection

Wayne these are really money saving tips and will also avoid headaches such as frozen pipes in the dead of winter.

Oct 31, 2010 03:48 AM
Wayne B. Pruner
Oregon First - Tigard, OR
Tigard Oregon Homes for Sale, Realtor, GRI

Sharon. This is my own list, written solely by me. And certainly not the first time a list like this has been written. There are many similar lists out there because the topic has a limited number of tasks that need to be done to prepare for winter.

Oct 31, 2010 04:00 AM
Richie Alan Naggar
people first...then business Ran Right Realty - Riverside, CA
agent & author

This stuff has to be done. Finding the time to do it remains a small challenge as it is not up there with pleasurable activities. But, try not doing it and see if you aren't sorry either.....Oh, the problems of home-ownership...I will take them every-time...

Oct 31, 2010 04:33 AM
Mark Quaintance
Windermere Real Estate - Utah - Draper, UT

Great tips, now if I can get the weather to cooperate so I can get some things done here.

Oct 31, 2010 09:28 AM
Jason Channell
Diadem Property Inspections - Serving Southeast Michigan - Troy, MI
The House Sleuth

Excellent tips.

And while most of us (at least up North) have been running the furnaces already, it is a great time to have a heating & cooling company come in to inspect the furnace. There is nothing like losing a furnace when it is 5 degrees outside.

Oct 31, 2010 05:05 PM
Barbara Hensley
RE/MAX Properties - Rockwall, TX
Homes for Sale in Rockwall County, Texas

Timely information and good to pass along to our clients. 

Nov 01, 2010 01:20 AM
Michelle Gibson
Hansen Real Estate Group Inc. - Wellington, FL
REALTOR

Wayne - Great Tips!  Even though we don't have a real "winter" I still think so of these tips apply to homes in South Florida as well.

Nov 02, 2010 07:14 AM
Joan Cox
House to Home, Inc. - Denver Real Estate - 720-231-6373 - Denver, CO
Denver Real Estate - Selling One Home at a Time

Wayne, this is a great list, and very well deserved Feature --- congrats.   Wish I could re-blog!

Nov 03, 2010 12:39 PM
Joetta Fort
The DiGiorgio Group - Arvada, CO
Independent Broker, Homes Denver to Boulder

My hubby always winterizes our home earlier than I want, because then the sprinklers are out of play. But he worries about repairs in the spring, and he's right most years.

Nov 06, 2010 04:59 AM
Anonymous
Matt

Thank you for the tips! I am going to tweet about this :) hope you do not mind. Always looking for great tips like this. 

 

-Matt
oneblogdirect 

Nov 12, 2010 05:44 AM
#38
Wayne B. Pruner
Oregon First - Tigard, OR
Tigard Oregon Homes for Sale, Realtor, GRI

Tweet away Matt! Thanks.

Nov 12, 2010 01:00 PM
Margaret C. Taylor
Century 21 New Millennium MD - Mechanicsville, MD
St Marys/Calvert/Charles MD Real Estate Agent

Wayne this is a great list I'm going to share with my family and Buyers.  Margaret C.

Dec 03, 2010 05:50 AM