Tips To Prepare Your Home For Winter Weather
When the outside weather changes, you prepare your home by switching off and winterizing the air conditioner and tuning up your home furnace. Along with making sure your home's furnace is ready to warm your indoor space, it is equally important to make sure your home exterior is ready for winter. Here are some tips to help you get your home prepared for the upcoming winter weather and its snow and ice.
Check Your Attic Insulation
Heat that escapes from your home's interior through gaps and cracks around doors and windows, and through your attic roof, equals money lost and and cold drafts in your home. A home insulation audit is a great opportunity for you to find these gaps in your home so you can fix them.
If you have not already had an insulation and energy audit, you might consider hiring a professional energy audit company before winter sets in. Talk to a representative with your utility company about any offers they have for a free or discounted home energy audits.
During this type of audit, a professional will arrive at your home and check your attic insulation levels to make sure they are adequate for your region and climate. Then, they will can also check your home's doors, windows, and exterior walls for any energy leaks and recommend remedies. If your home's attic insulation is not sufficient, heat can escape through your roof. Supplement your attic's insulation by hiring a professional, like those at American Fireplace and Insulation, to spray foam insulation. This type of insulation covers any gaps left by older rolled batting insulation.
Clean and Repair Roof Gutters
Your home's roof provides protection to your home interior from the elements, and its drainage system needs to work properly to keep moisture from seeping through your home's foundation, walls, and roof. Your roof gutters can fill up and get clogged with debris windblown from storms and nearby trees. If you have a number of trees in your yard and in your neighbor's yards, this can add to the formation of gutter clogs, leading to their overflowing and potential interior leaks.
It is important to check your roof gutters in the fall before the weather turns cold. Clean out your gutters to dislodge twigs, leaves, dirt, and roof debris that can collect in them. Depending on the number of trees in the area, you may need to clean out your gutters several times each year. Also check their drainage to repair and correct any leaks and sagging lengths.
