With many first time home buyers the excitement doesn't stop with the purchase, but carries on through their entire first few years of home ownership. It may not be constant, but the energy and enjoyment around improving your home is definitely recurring! Any time there is an improvement made or work done around the house it's a learning opportunity for the new homeowner.
Remember how we said we'd coach you through the process? We are here to do just that! Today's topic is all about winterizing your home. What is winterizing? It's the term we use to describe any preparations or repairs made to a home to prepare it for the winter months. Ideally, this is done at the end of summer and beginning of fall. if you wait too long to winterize, you may have problems to fix in cold, wet weather instead of discovering potential problems and fixing them before it's a problem and damages your home. Yes, if you fail to properly winterize your home you can leave it susceptible to damage during fall and winter storms.
As a new homeowner, one must remember that while the home is new to you, it has had owners before and weathered many seasons already. This means that there may be weaknesses that need to be addressed before wetter weather arrives. Here's a quick list of things you will want to finish before the weather starts favoring indoor activities.
Roof Repairs & Gutter Cleaning
Check that your roof does not have any leaks or missing/broken shingles.
During the winter storms, branches and winds may combine to start chipping away at your roofs integrity. Usually we don't notice this until the following storm when we start getting leaks. Repairs are needed when a shingle is no longer staying down and pealing off of the roof.
Contacting any contractor or handyman can make this repair an easy job. You want to be sure that your roof is repaired properly as faulty repairs can mean thousands of dollars in damages with some of the heavier storms.
Clean those gutters!
Each year during fall it can be so beautiful with all the turning leaves and the piles of red and orange that build up in our yards. The problem comes when those leaves begin to clog up our gutters and drains. When this happens, the water does not go in planned paths, and often falls over onto places that have no place for the water to go, resulting in the flooding of your yard or home!
There are many products available to keep leaves from getting into your gutters, however even with these products there are other things falling off trees that cause problems.Oak trees in particular can be problematic because the acorns and leaves combine to make problematic dams in your gutters.
You may have to clean your home's gutters more than once depending on the weather, but generally if you plan to clean them after nearly all the leaves have fallen it will be a once a year chore.
Getting Help
These tips should get you thinking about those Do It Yourself projects, but If you're looking to have all of these tasks completed by a professional, I know some great people that would love to help you this season.
More Tips!
This is only the beginning, check back tomorrow for Part II where we will go over the structure and siding maintenance you may have to do as well as some great information on those items that keep your home so warm during the winter months, fireplaces and heaters.
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