Ultimate Checklist: Best Ways To Prepare Your Home For Winter

by John Griffith
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Winter is just around the corner. And with it come shorter days, cold winds, snowfall, and freezing temperatures. While the severity of winter ranges depending on where you live, it doesn’t hurt to take the time and prepare your home for these trying conditions. Preparing for winter may not be on the top of your mind, but it will help ensure your home is in great shape. So, when the time comes for the first frost to hit, you can sit back and relax. It’s important to prepare your home for winter as it will help you save on repairs, on the heating bill, protect your investment and make sure nothing important freezes. That’s why we’ve prepared the ultimate checklist on the topic. Let’s check it out.

With it come shorter days, cold winds, snowfall, and freezing temperatures

prepare your home for the winter home with snow

How To Prepare Your Home for Winter

Fall is slowly but surely slipping away, and in its place come the harsh, cold winter conditions. Wintertime carries with it a series of trials, both for you and your home. So, it’s essential to prepare. You would be surprised how much a little preparation goes in order for you to have a warm and cozy home this winter. While some tasks on this list may not be everyone’s favorite chores, it’s significant to remember that a little attention to your home now will carry you throughout the whole winter. Here is what you should do:

Fall is slowly but surely slipping away, and in its place come the harsh, cold winter conditions

blue house covered with snow

#Leaks and Drafts

Leaks and drafts should be your top priority to check. If you notice any leaks from the roof, if you see any damage, loose shingles or anything that may cause a leak, get on it. It’s important to fix such issues before the heavy rainfall or snow starts to fall. After all you don’t want to find your house starting to flood unexpectedly and have a ton of water damage. When it comes to drafts, inspect any cracks in the wall, windows, or doors. If you find any make sure to seal them up with some caulk, or with bubble wrap. Sealing drafts up will help you save on the energy bill and make sure no heat is escaping from the home.

Leaks and drafts should be your top priority to check, start with the windows

wooden window open with view

#Chimney Inspection

Before you start firing up the wood stove or fireplace, it’s best to have the chimney inspected and in most cases cleaned. This will help to prevent any chances of fires and to ensure there is no chance of carbon monoxide poisoning. It’s best to leave this action to professionals, however.

Before you start firing up the wood stove or fireplace, it’s best to have the chimney inspected

house with working chimney

#Insulate Pipes

If you have any exposed pipes that run in an unheated area, outside or along a wall, they can be a potential hazard. If they have running water through them during winter, the water can freeze and burst if the temperatures get low enough. So, it’s best to protect these pipes with some insulation. You can get pipe insulation at pretty much any hard where store. It’s pretty much like a little coat for your pipes. Make sure to place the insulation on any exposed pipes to prevent damage.

It’s best to protect these pipes with some special pipe insulation

person insulating pipes with gray insulate

#Tree Branches

Take a walk around your property and look out for any branches that may be sprawling over your driveway, house, garage, or power lines. During a storm, such branches can become a potential hazard and cause quite a lot of damage. If they break off and fall from the strong winds, they may damage your home, cut off your power and so on.

Look around your property for any branches that may be sprawling over your house

branches touching house and wires

#Gutter Cleaning

Cleaning the gutters is one of the more annoying chores on this list, but it is still vital to do. If your gutter is packed with fallen leaves, all that debris can freeze and turn into a big icy mess. Consequently, it can get under the shingles, damage your roof, cause water damage and so on. So, grab a ladder, some gloves and get rid of all the debris. You can also use a leaf blower to get the job done faster, but even then you may still need to use your hands to get into the nitty-gritty parts.

Cleaning the gutters is one of the more annoying chores on this list, but it is still vital to do

person cleaning leaves out of gutter

@Bob Vila

#Freezing Door Locks

If you live in an area where temperatures tend to drop, and it’s super cold, you may have struggled with frozen door locks. An annoying experience, especially early in the morning, when you are in a hurry. So, why not prevent it this year? Just spray some powdered-graphite lubricant into every door with a lock, then turn the key in the lock. You can find this powder in most hardware stores. It acts as a lubricant for the pins inside the lock to prevent sticking. You can do this once a season.

You may have struggled with a frozen door lock in the winter

iron door handle with key hole

#Furnace Care

Just like your chimney and fireplace, your furnace also needs to be inspected. You should do this every year. And the earlier you do it, the better. This way if the furnace isn’t working properly, an early inspection will catch it on time, and you will have enough time to replace it before the winter sets in. Make sure to also get the air ducts cleaned, and you change up the furnace filter regularly.

Just like your chimney and fireplace, your furnace also needs to be inspected

man checking his furnace at home

#Reverse Fans

Ceiling fans aren’t only for keeping you cool during the summer. If you have one at home, it’s best to switch the blade rotation as the seasons go along. For most fans, it goes like this: during the warm months, the blades should move counterclockwise. For the cold months, the blades should be switched to clockwise rotation and put on the lowest setting. This way it pushes the warm air in the room downward.

Ceiling fans aren’t only for keeping you cool during the summer

ceiling fan in grey

#Cover Your Floors

While your wood, tile or laminate floors may look stunning, they may be a big cause of heat loss during the winter. That’s why we recommend you consider adding some rugs (as they are not as permanent as installing carpet) during this cold season. Rugs help contain the heat, and they keep your feet warmer. They are also a beautiful add to your interior design!

That’s why we recommend you consider adding some rugs

prepare your home for the winter rugs in different colors

#Prepare The Outside

The outside of your property is just as important as the inside. Make sure to cover or bring inside any outdoor furniture, drain and turn off any outside water faucets and pipes, take care of the garden, prepare the lawn, stock up on winter cleaning essentials such as shovels and so on. There are plenty of things to look out for on the outside as well, so make sure not to forget it.

Make sure to cover or bring inside any outdoor furniture

snow on a lounge chair outside

This was how to prepare your home for winter time. We hope you found this article useful. Now you won’t have to worry about your home during these freezing and testing months.

This was how to prepare your home for winter time

prepare your home for the winter home covered in snow

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John Griffith
John Griffith

John Griffith is a young, passionate journalist. Writing has been John’s hobby ever since he was a boy. He has worked in some of the UK’s most successful news portals over the course of his professional career but found his forever home at Archzine.

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