How to Winterize Your Home

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Video Transcript

HOW TO WINTERIZE YOUR HOME

Hi I am David Lupberger with ServiceMagic.com. You're maybe living in a home that has needed much work, but as a homeboy you can never let your guard down. As the season change, you need to make sure your home is ready for anything that the cold winter may throw at you. Today, we will be doing some of these critical things that you should be doing to get your home ready for winter.

The first thing you want to check is to make sure you're not as your parents would say, paint at the outdoors but making sure your home is properly insulated. Check your attic, walls and basement for adequate insulation. Feel around the electro outlets and switch plate for cold air. Have a professional add insulation if necessary. Look around doors and windows for gaps and potential places were warm air can escape. Use cocking or weather stripping to take care of any problem areas and consider having a professional to place old windows with energy efficient double pane windows.

A servicemagic.com hold shares only about 15% of homes energy efficient windows, which could save you lots of money on your income.

Next, you want to check your furnace, keeping a clean filter on your furnace throughout the winter is essential to maximizing its efficiency. Dirty filters make the furnace work harder and may damage it. Have a heating expert, check out your unit for leaks on a yearly basis is always a good idea. Fire fighters will tell you that a dirty chimney can be extremely dangerous. Wood fires and fireplaces can lead to creosote build up in your chimney, which can lead to a chimney fire. Hire a professional to make sure your chimney is clean before lighting your first winter fire. Also if you don't have one all ready install some kind of glass enclosure on your fire place opening to reduce the amount of hot air which being sucked out of your house when you're burning a fire.

Many people underestimate the importance of taking care of their outdoor plumbing. Leaving water setting in pipes to the winter can be disastrous. The water supply to your outdoor pipe should always be shut off for the winter and the pipes drained. Even if you've been lucky so far, it only takes one winter blast to freeze a pipe which can burst, leaving you with the watery and expensive mess to clean up. The same is true for your lawn's sprinkler system.

Right now, you probably have water seeding in the underground pipes. If that freezes those pipes could burst too. A lot of home owners to do this themselves, but a professional will make sure that all the water is blown out, so you don't under replacing some or all of your sprinkler system.

Finally, make sure you keep your gutters and down spots clear of all falling leaves. If water is improperly drained they could freeze and cause big problems for your roof.

Protecting your homes from the harsh conditions of winter is critical. Spending some time and money now can save thousands down the road. To find the free-screened professional to assist you with this task, go to servicemagic.com. Home improvement hassle free.