Home Maintenance Tips - Winter Season!
1. Cleaning your gutters
Check and clean out your gutters, soffits, and fascia throughout the year to prevent debris from accumulating. If you don’t, it could cause leaks, rotting, and other expensive damage, says Benjamin Martin, a home inspector and president and lead inspector for Florida Certified Home Inspections.
“Once debris is carefully removed, any dirt or grime should be thoroughly cleaned and cleared; any missing caulk replaced; and holes, cracks, or loose areas repaired,” he says.
Plan to tackle this chore every spring and fall (or hire a professional if ladders make you queasy). Hot tip: Pine needles cause frequent gutter clogging. If you have a tree near your gutters, plan to do this more often.
2. Checking in on your air conditioning and heating system
Martin says the most ideal scenario is to hire an HVAC professional for semi-annual maintenance, focusing on cooling in the spring and heating in the fall.
As the days grow shorter and you spend more time indoors, it’s more important than ever to make sure your home is hardened against harsh winter conditions. During the coming months, freezing temperatures outside and dry heated air inside can create a variety of issues — from frozen pipes that burst to leaky roofs. Whether you recently moved to a colder climate or an early arrival of winter storms has created a greater sense of urgency, you can help prevent future damage to your home and increase safety for your family with our winter home maintenance checklist.
1. Get Your Sprinkler System Blown Out
Gone are the days of having to continuously water the lawn (cause for celebration, right?). But that doesn’t mean you can just turn the sprinkler system off and ignore it for several months. Instead, avoid a costly repair situation (caused by water freezing inside the pipes and components and creating cracks or other damage) by having your irrigation system “blown out.” As the name suggests, you simply want to make sure all of the water is out of the lines, so your system can stay dry through the winter months. This can be done by a professional or, if you have access to an air compressor, you can do it yourself.
3. Regularly flushing out clogs
Keeping your plumbing systems running smoothly will help you avoid leaks and water damage, Martin says. You should address small clogs as soon as they pop up. Yes, that means regularly removing the hair build-up in your shower (as unpleasant as it may be).
In terms of your toilet, remove any gunk that accumulates near a toilet valve (the long mechanism in the toilet tank) and replace worn flappers (the rubber seal in the tank), he says.
4. Maintain the Trees on Your Property
And speaking of trees, winter weather can put a lot of stress on them — and on your plants. Walk around your yard or property and look for potential trouble spots, such as rotted branches or trees that are leaning to one side. Consider having an arborist come out to trim back large trees near your home or power lines, or to remove a tree or large branches that may be dead by the time winter is over. Otherwise, you risk a tree or branches falling over during a storm and potentially damaging your home or causing injury.
5. Check Your Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
In the winter, our doors and windows stay closed tight to keep out the cold air, which means fresh air flow is at a minimum. This means your home is more susceptible to build up of dangerous gases like carbon monoxide. Heating systems also tend to dry out the air in your home, so if something catches on fire, it can escalate much faster. Ensure you’ll be alerted to any smoke or gas leaks by checking on your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors. Most units have a button where you can run a test alert. Now’s also a great time to replace those batteries!
Source : https://www.pods.com/blog/winter-home-maintenance-checklist
