It’s the most wonderful time of the year, but not for your wallet. As beautiful as the winter season is, the colder weather can also mean more home repairs and maintenance. Home renovation financing can be especially tough around the holidays, and most of us don’t have an extra stack of cash set aside for unexpected home repairs this time of year. Who wants to be shelling out money on home repairs with so many holiday gifts to buy?
To get ahead of the game, here are some of the most common winter home repair projects you could expect to run into this season.
Clean Out Your Gutters
If you have any trees close to your home, your gutters are likely filled with leaves and debris this time of year. To prevent your gutters from clogging and creating issues for you, be sure to clean them out before the snowy weather sets in. The easiest way to clean your gutters is by using a small rake to get the leaves out. This is an easy project to do yourself, but you can also hire a professional company to do it if you wish. Whichever route you decide to take, it is imperative that you get your gutters taken care of before the snow starts to fall, so you can avoid any potential headaches down the road.
Prevent Heat From Escaping Your House
Everyone with an electric bill knows how absurd the cost of heat can be this time of year, and one of the most common reasons for this is that heat can escape your home through cracks in the walls, space under the doors, or poor insulation around pipes. To prevent this from happening, be sure to properly weather-proof your home before the temperatures drop. This means making sure your windows are effectively weather-stripped, filling cracks under your door to prevent heat from escaping your home, and ensuring your pipes are properly insulated. A quick, easy, and affordable way to prevent heat from leaving your home and a draft from coming in is by placing a blanket or draft stopper in the cracks under all of your doors.
Prevent Your Pipes From Freezing
Frozen pipes are some of the most common home repair issues you could possibly run into this time of year, and the cost of repairing them can be extremely high To prevent this from happening, there are a few things you could do. If you plan on being out of town, even just for a few days, be sure to set your thermostat at 55 degrees and keep any cabinets with plumbing open so that your pipes can get some warm air flow. Another thing is to add some insulation to your pipes. This will act as a winter jacket for your pipes and prevent them from freezing. As with the rest of the tips on this list, this is something you can easily do yourself or hire a professional to do if you prefer.