How to Fix Up Your Home for Winter

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When it comes to winter-time activities around the house, many homeowners think of one thing: snow, snow, snow. Clearing snow out of the driveway and making sure it doesn't weigh too heavily on the roof are definitely the right activities, but what about making sure your home is prepared for the cold? Here are some quick tips and strategies that will help you run a home with an eye on maintaining it through the winter and saving money.

Keep an eye on your pipes. Pipes can freeze during the winter, so you'll want to stay on top of your plumbing system as soon as you can. When you find a relatively warm day, go out and check the pipes for any freezing, and make sure you know where to locate all of yours. It will help to read up on solid pipe safety as well as how pipes generally work.

Make sure to winter-proof your home. Winter-proof? Yes; be able to keep snow and cold outside, where it belongs. You can do this by making sure your insulation is working properly, both on a larger level (are you preserving as much heat as possible?) and on a specific level (are there any areas you need to better insulate?). Make sure that your doors are weather-proof and that your windows stay tightly locked and closed.

Prepare your mud room for maximum moisture. The mud room often gets the worst treatment during winter, especially if you have children who love playing in the snow and love bringing that snow back indoors with them. Make sure you keep your mudroom as the focus of where you'll be bringing in all of the moisture from outside, and that your mudroom is able to handle it. The better organized and clean you keep it, the better the rest of your house will handle the winter. It's generally a good idea to focus as much of the ucky winter stuff in one room, as this will allow you to control it in one place.

If you're a new homeowner who isn't too experienced with winter, you may find yourself a bit overwhelmed at first. But if you work on tackling one problem at a time, and actually take action to prevent many problems winter can cause, you'll be well on top of it. Use failures as a learning experience, and you should be just fine.

Photo Credits: Allen McGregor

This post involves:

doors, insulation, mud room, mudroom, new homeowner, pipes, playing in the snow, plumbing system, saving money, snow clearing, snow snow snow, weather proof, winter time activities

... and focuses on:

Handyman, House, How to Fix

Posted by Fix Handyman on January 19, 2010 in Handyman, House, How to Fix