It is always a good idea to prepare your home for the next season before it officially starts. With the warm summer months coming to an end, now is the perfect time to start preparing your home for fall and the cold winter that follows. Use the following tips to ensure that your home is in tip-top shape for the upcoming Minnesota winter.
Check for Cracks
Especially in older homes, caulk can wear out after a while, so it is important to check around the exterior of your home for any gaps, cracks, or loose caulking. Be sure to look around areas such as your foundation, windows, pipes, ducts, and faucets. Any cracks that you find will need to be sealed to avoid cold air from seeping into your home. In homes that are older than 15 years, you may need to add additional weather stripping to your doors and windows to further prevent cold drafts from entering.
Roof
Minnesota’s weather can take a toll on your homes roof. Roofs that are older than 20 years may begin to show wear, so it is vital to check for any problems before the temperature drops. Inspect your shingles for any signs of cracking, buckling, or rotting – these will need to be replaced before the snowfalls.
Remove Leaves
Stay consistent with cleaning your gutters during the fall as many leaves and other debris tend to gather in them. Clogged gutters increase the chance of ice damming and other water damage to your roof when the snow falls and melts, or during heavy rainstorms. In addition to removing leaves from your gutters, you will also want to make sure that they are off your roof and lawn, as they can create damaging mold and funguses.
Water
In older homes without frost proof sillcocks, it is important to drain all your outdoor faucets and sillcocks to prevent water from freezing in them and bursting your pipes. If you have an irrigation system in your yard, that also needs to be drained out. Blow out your pipes and winterize per the installer’s instructions.
Check Smoke Detectors and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
It is good practice to test and change the batteries every six months in both your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors – making this a maintenance chore for fall and spring. Also, verify the age of your devices to make sure that they have not expired.
Although we wish those warm temperatures could stay awhile longer, winter is fast approaching. It is important to be prepared, especially in older homes, to assure that few to no problems occur during the frosty months.
Visit Lennar.com for more information.
