Tips To Winterize Your Home

For those of us who aren’t lucky enough to live in areas that are warm year round, it’s time to start to think about winterizing your home.

Winterizing not only helps prevent small repairs once the season breaks into spring, but can also help save in heating costs. With energy prices rapidly rising, we could all benefit from saving a few pennies this winter.

In this issue we’ll explore the first half of your winterizing checklist – be sure to read next month’s issue to find out the final steps, and remember that whether you’re in the coldest of states or enjoying the mildest of winters in the south, Handyman Matters can assist you in all your home repair and improvement needs.

To properly winterize, you’ll want to do the following:

Seal any leaks around your windows and doors. To do this, you’ll want to:

• Add or replace worn weather stripping around your doors and windows – weather-stripping is a strip of resilient material for covering the joint between the window sash and frame in order to reduce air leaks and prevent water from entering the structure. You can find this at any home repair equipment retailer.
• Caulk gaps where necessary
• Replace worn door stops at the bottom of all of your exterior doors
• If you have older windows, replace them with energy efficient ones.

Did you know that if you added up all the cracks and gaps in your home, it would be equal to leaving one window open all winter long?

• Seal other leaks
• You can use caulking and weather stripping around entry points for your pipes and ducts that travel through an exterior wall
• Consider installing insulation kits behind electrical plugs that are on a wall with an exterior side
• Check your insulation
• Proper attic insulation helps keep your home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer!

Ask the staff at Clearview Plumbing and Heating  how much insulation is recommended in your area, then check your attic insulation to make sure it's adequate. Additionally, some homes benefit from extra insulation in the walls. We will be happy to explain what types of wall insulation are available.

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