Protecting your home during winter months keeps repair bills to a minimum. Knowing how to prevent damages from ice, snow, sleet and frigid temperatures ensures your wallet doesn’t become frozen too. Beat cold weather at its own game by preparing your home in advance of winter storms. Follow a few simple tips for winter home protection and beat old man winter.
Roof
Snow accumulates on rooftops, which can cause water leaks as it builds, and melts. To prevent accumulation watch the highest level of the roof, this is where snow piles up most. Remove as soon as possible with a snow shovel that won’t damage the roof. If snow is light, a snow blower comes in handy and ensures no damage to the roof.
Keep your attic well maintained and ventilated. This prevents ice dams from forming and prevents melting snow and ice from running off the roof and refreezing which causes blockages in gutters and backs up so no drainage is possible. Ice dams that form on the roof causes water to run under the roofs covering.
Pipes
Pipes burst when pressure builds from frozen water. Blockages form between the closed faucet and ice buildup. Extreme frigid temperatures affect pipes in attics, crawl spaces, and outside walls, so protecting these areas are important. Prevent bursting pipes by sealing cracks in walls and foundations with caulking. This prevents cold air from circulating in areas near pipes.
Allow warm air to enter cabinet doors that have pipes by leaving the doors open. Warm air circulating prevents freezing and bursting. If warm air doesn’t reach the pipes, place a heater near the door to circulate heat.
Exposed water pipes need wrapping with insulated sleeves or slow heat transfer wrapping. This keeps a pipe warm and prevents water from freezing up and starting leaks or bursting. Hardware stores carry all sizes and shapes of pipe wrappings.
When temperatures drop low enough, facets throughout your home need to have a trickle of water running out. This keeps water flowing and aids in keeping pipes warm. This is especially helpful in unprotected areas.
Attic
Keep attic floors well insulated. This prevents heat within the home from rising causing snow and ice to melt fast. Heat rises quickly and causes damages in winter from melting ice, snow and sleet. Cellulose insulation restores the R-value with natural fibers providing protection from cold temperatures. Fiberglass insulation loses R-value over time and recovering with fiberglass insulation causes hot and cold air to enter the attic.
Windows and Doors
A lot of cold air enters through windows and doors not properly maintained. Install storm windows or sheet plastic kits to keep cold breezes from blowing through. Removal of air conditioner units or placing covers over them prevents air from entering the home.
Replace worn out weather stripping around doors and windows. Use draft snakes around windowsills, between window frames and doors. Caulk any cracks or small holes found.
Outside of Home
Clean gutter and downspouts before weather arrives. Spray walkways and steps with ice repellent solution to prevent ice forming. Kitty liter or rock salt works great if ice repellent solution is unavailable. Make sure tree limbs aren’t hanging over the roof or garage. Ice and snow weigh limbs down and they could break causing damages to roofs or other buildings in your yard.
Using a few winter home protection tips save a bundle in repair costs later. Prevention ahead of old man winter ensures no problems arise. Cold winter weather is hard on homes and homeowners so prevent disasters before they happen.
Source: 6 Steps to Eco-winterizing Your Home and Saving Money