Winter Home Maintenance
As we enter the chilly months of fall and winter, it’s time for your clients to start prepping their homes for brisk temperatures. Before it gets too cold to go outside, there are a few suggestions to prepare a home for the upcoming season.
Gilbert Garcia, the Director of Business Operations for Monumental Building Services provided insight into why winter home maintenance is necessary and which tasks people should do to protect their homes during the cold months.
“The number one reason to do fall and winter home maintenance is to prevent costly damage,” Garcia explained. The more preparation done prior to the colder months, the better chances there are to avoid home damage. Garcia said that oftentimes if maintenance is not done correctly and the home gets damaged, some insurance companies will hold the owners liable for most, if not all the damage.
Some of the home maintenance tasks that Garcia recommends include:
Shutting off outside water faucets. Close valves inside the house and drain any remaining water from the outside spigot. Garcia said to remember to “shut off both the front and rear hose bibs.”
Clearing gutters and downspouts. Leaves, branches and debris can clog gutters and cause water and ice to pool. When this happens, even if your roof is brand new, the water will leak through, potentially damaging your roof and ceilings.
Testing your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. These should be checked at least once a month to ensure they’re operating. Also make sure that there are smoke detectors on every floor of the home and that old batteries are changed promptly.
Insulating exposed pipes. “Lots of older homes have running water lines in the attic, so getting those lines insulated will prevent them from freezing and bursting once temperatures drop,” Garcia pointed out. While some of the pipes will have some insulation built-in, typically it’s minimal and not enough to prevent freezing.
Should you need assistance with any home maintenance projects this season, be sure to connect with licensed and insured home maintenance providers through our Home Service Connections network.