Tips to Make Sure Your Home is Ready for Winter!
Ready for Winter? When it comes to winterizing our homes, everyone has an opinion. As real estate professionals, we known when to stay in our own wheelhouse and when to bring in the experts. Fortunately, with the magic of the internet, those pros are easy to find. Who doesn’t trust Bob Vila, the iconic home guy almost as famous as “Tim, the Tool Man’ from the TV show, “Home Improvement”?
Winterizing Tips from Ace
From our Friends at ACE Hardware, they recommend having your chimney checked and serviced before winter hits. Creosote can build up and can catch fire, so it is good to have a clean chimney. Silvercreek Chimney Sweep, Chimcare, or Chimney Sweep Plus LLC are all great resources for getting the job done. They also recommend replacing smoke detectors and carbon monoxide batteries regularly. The ACE pros also suggest fertilizing your yard with a good winter fertilizer so that it will look great in spring, and that it is a good idea to seal cracks in your sidewalks and driveways, as water can get in and cause damage, including when it freezes. Need a great landscaper to help with the job? Try one of these… Bob Fence and Landscape, Sosa Landscape Maintenance, and Mckinley Landscape LLC
Here are The Home Guru’s 12 winterizing tips for getting your home ready for winter, and they are very cost effective, if not free in many cases. 1) Clean out your gutters. When they are clogged, water will freeze, damn up, not flow effectively, and can cause extra weight on the gutters, roof, soffits, and fascia. Icicles are heavy, and dangerous as you will recall the little boy from “The Christmas Story” who “almost shot his eye out!” 2) Wrap windows in plastic from the inside. Not particularly attractive but can keep in 70% of the heat. Do this especially in unused rooms. Busy rooms with family and holiday crowds might want you to open windows, so taking the film on and off can be a chore.
“Turn your Thermostat one Degree”
3) Flush water heaters out entirely through the drain valve. Particles and sediment can collect on the bottom of the tank, reducing their efficiency. 4) Turn your thermostat down one degree. This alone can save you perhaps 1% on your heating bill. 5) Service your furnace at least every 90 days in the winter and change the filters regularly. Some experts say monthly in the wintertime. 6) Put draft guards under the doors. They are inexpensive at the home improvement stores, and free if you roll up a towel. Just keep that heat in. 7) Turn your ceiling fan direction switch to “clockwise.” This pushes the heat downward where you need it. Switch it back in the spring and summer.
“Disconnect Your Hose from the Hose Bib”
8) Disconnect your hoses outside from the hose bib. They can freeze, the bib can freeze and split the metal, and it can cause a costly repair, especially on brick siding. 9) Use a chimney balloon in an unused fireplace/chimney. Lots of heat escapes through chimneys. Shut the flue if you don’t use the fireplace. 10) Caulk windows, openings, door gaps, etc., and especially around window air conditioning units. Put weather stripping around doors and windows. 11) Cover hoses bibs with insulated covers, found at home improvement and hardware stores. They are inexpensive and effective. Close outside vents to keep moisture and cold out when temperatures dip down to freezing. 12) Cover exposed water pipes with insulated tubing. Need a contractor? Try one of these; American General LLC, Golden Hammer Construction, Good Guys Construction, Inc
Kristy Home Solutions recommend that for very little cost, you can have sprinkler professionals blow out your lawn and garden sprinkler systems, and to check that all interior windows are latched after summertime use. This can let out heat.
Get ready for Winter with Kristy Home Solution’s 10 Tips for Weatherizing your home.
There you have it. You are set for a comfortable, warm, and efficient winter season. Enjoy that beautiful home and the beauty and wonder of the holidays.
Whether you’re winterizing your home or preparing it for sale, we can help! Contact Us!
Silverton Office 503-874-4666
Woodburn Branch Office 503-446-5411
Keizer Branch Office 971-339-5244
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