Winter Home Maintenance Tips

Keep calm and winter on! Cold temperatures and snowfall don’t have to be a burden for your home. Help prepare your home for winter by implementing some of these preventative winter home maintenance tips!  

Interior Maintenance  

  • Clean your fireplace or chimney: Make sure that it is winter ready. Any build-up inside your chimney from last season could be a fire hazard. 
  • Check pipes: As temperatures drop, any water left inside your pipes will freeze. Therefore, you will want to make sure to fix any leaks to prevent them from bursting. 
  • Insulate your non-living spaces: Make sure you have proper insulation in your attic, basement, and crawl space. This will help keep the warm air inside your living spaces. 
  • Check your windows and doors: Re-caulk any broken seals or drafts or require new weather stripping. Broken seals and drafts will cause your heating system to go into overdrive and raise your heating bill. 
  • Reverse the direction of your ceiling fans: By doing this, it will help keep the warm air from rising and will keep your rooms warmer. Check out Delmar Fans & Lighting for a video tutorial on how to reverse the direction of your ceiling fans. 

Exterior Maintenance  

  • Protect outdoor furniture: Store any furniture in a shed or garage. Consider purchasing a weatherproof cover to ensure the quality stays intact. 
  • Look for failing tree limbs: Walk through your yard and nearby pathways to check for any dead branches. Dead branches that get covered in snow will easily snap, hit your home, and could cause thousands of dollars in property damage. 
  • Get your winter gear ready: Test all winter equipment, make sure you have a safe ice melt, and get your shovel ready. You will want to prepare incase a storm hits.
  • Clean out your gutters: If your gutters are clogged, they can cause damage to both the interior and exterior of your home. Having clean gutters ensures that when snow melts on your roof, there will be a clean drainage system in place. 

Prepare you home for winter by incorporating these simple steps into your home maintenance routine to keep your home nice and cozy this season. You can also download our winter home maintenance checklist! If you are considering purchasing a home, then contact one of our expert Loan Officers today to start the process!