Now that it’s officially November, Brandon and I are starting to prepare our home for winter weather. No, I don’t mean hanging Christmas lights!! I’m talking about the down and dirty winterizing items. Before I became a Realtor, I never really grasped the importance of all these home maintenance items. Now that I am in my fourth (yes, fourth!!) year of real estate, I’ve seen the good, bad and the ugly of all sorts of houses. Keeping on top of these items makes a big difference by the time you are ready to sell.
Clean your gutters and window wells.
Your gutters are your house foundation’s first line of defense against rain and melting snow. If they are filled with dirt and debris, water will overflow on the edges onto the foundation. When water freezes and expands, it can cause serious damage to your foundation walls. Make sure they are cleaned out so water can flow smoothly down the spout. Also, if you have any basement window wells, it’s a good idea to clean the leaves and debris from there too so water doesn’t pool near your windows. While you are on the ladder, check over your roof for any damaged shingles or loose flashing.
Winterize your sprinkler systems and outdoor water faucets.
If you have an underground sprinkler system, now is time to have that winterized so the pipes don’t freeze. You should also disconnect hoses from any and all outdoor spigots.
Tune up your furnace.
If you haven’t already, call your local heating and cooling company! Have your furnace system or boiler tuned up so that everything is fine tuned before temperatures freeze. Change your furnace filters so that the air flow is fresh. A home inspector I know recommends changing your furnace filters monthly!
Windows and doors need winterizing too!
If any of your exterior doors are drafty, you may need to replace the weather stripping to make sure you have an airtight seal. Old weather stripping is a big reason why many doors are so drafty in the cold weather. If your windows are equipped with storm windows, lower them into the closed position. Another way to fight the draftiness is to seal your windows with plastic film. This is more of a temporary solution if new windows are in the budget. Your heating bill should see a big difference, so its worth the effort.
Call the exterminator.
Where I live, we get a massive amount of elder bugs that swarm our neighborhood every fall and spring. Last fall it was so bad, they somehow got inside the cracks in our brick and camped out for the winter. When the spring came, our windows were covered with them. We called an exterminator to come treat our outside walls and windows. The bugs were nowhere nearly as bad this fall! I heard on the radio that there’s been an influx of stink bugs in the northeast this year. You might want to have someone come treat your house before they decide to cozy up inside for the winter.
Don’t forget about the small engines!
Brandon highly recommends putting fuel stabilizer in all your small gasoline engines. These are tools such as the lawn mower, leaf blower, and weed whacker. He also recommends turning them on in order to get the stabilizer into the fuel lines and carburetors. After running them for a few minutes, shut them off and top off the gas tanks.
Did I miss anything?? Leave your winterization suggestions in the comments!
