Winter Home Maintenance Guide

Winter means holiday fun and cheer, but it also means your home may be subject to some environmental stressors. As temperatures drop, you rely on heating, and precipitation increases in some parts of the country. Here’s a checklist of five things you should do before winter rolls around so you can ensure you’re taking care of your home and mitigating risks.

• Check and inspect your chimney and fireplace

Before you decide to start the first fire of the year, you need to ensure you have done your annual vent, chimney, and fireplace cleaning. This should be completed by a professional chimney sweep to ensure you won’t have any issues with ventilation or smoke. Even if your fireplace is gas, you should have someone check it to make sure no gas leaks developed over the previous season. For old homes and modern homes alike, this step is necessary.

• Clean your gutters

Gutters should be cleaned twice a year, and if you live in a cold climate, the winter can be taxing on your roof and drainage infrastructure. Start and end the winter season with a full gutter clean to remove the leaves and debris that may have built up. Otherwise, if your gutters are clogged, it may lead to flooding in your basement or yard.

• Fill in any gaps to prevent a draft

Any spot where extra winter air is making its way into your home is a place where you are potentially wasting fuel and energy. Not to mention, it’s never pleasant to have a breeze of cold air flowing toward you as you sit on the couch. You can apply caulk to seal any windows or add weather stripping. For doors, you can add storm doors or draft blockers to keep the cold air out when people enter and exit.

• Perform maintenance to your furnace

Before you start depending on your furnace for a full season of heat, make sure everything is running smoothly. Check and change the filter, which needs to be changed every three months, and ideally, get the whole system checked by a professional once a year. If you have a dirty filter or clogged system, you can wind up with limited airflow in the house which means your furnace will be working harder than necessary, using more energy than necessary. This is essential in spacious homes that may require more energy to heat.

• Get a roof inspection

Ideally, you should get your roof checked twice each year to prevent damage. An underperforming roof can have severe consequences and cause immense damage to your home. To prevent these outcomes, inspections are key. Schedule one of them before winter to help you prepare for the onslaught of precipitation that can take a toll on any weak areas.

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