Jan 31, 2025
Protect Your Home this Season with our Essential Winter Maintenance Checklist

A winter maintenance checklist will help protect your home against the harsh elements of the season.
Cold temperatures, strong winds, and heavy snow can all wreak havoc on our homes’ exteriors, leading to future repairs with high costs. Here are the steps you should take to protect your home and your peace of mind this winter.
Check Your Attic Insulation

Contrary to what you might think, start with the inside of your home when preparing to winterize it.
If your home isn’t properly insulated, it won’t be able to keep the warm air in and cold air out. This can put your heating system into overdrive, hiking up energy bills. The biggest culprit could be your attic insulation.
Before it gets too cold, ensure you have proper insulation in your attic, since this helps improve the airflow throughout your entire home. When choosing insulation, make sure to look at the ‘R-value.’ The higher the R-value, the more energy-efficient your insulation is. The recommended R-value for your home varies from region to region, but it’s typically R-13 to R-23 for exterior walls. However, R-30, R-38 & R-49 are common for attic and ceiling spaces.
Staying in this range will help to keep your home warmer during the day, thus saving you money. We’d recommend seeking a professional to perform the task if you’re not well-versed in attic insulation.
Seal Air Leaks

Your attic isn’t the only place where cold air could be creeping in. Seems around doors and windows, in basements or crawlspaces, and behind your dryer and stove should also be checked for air leaks.
For doors and windows, you can weatherstrip, which is an affordable and easy DIY option. While there may already be sealant around doors and windows, an easy way to check if there is an air leak is to hold a lit candle up to the area where you feel air transference. If the flame stands still, there isn’t air seeping in. If the flame moves, chances are you have an air leak on your hands.
For behind your dryer or stove, you can also use weatherstripping or caulk to seal these problem areas.
If you notice drafts in your basement, crawlspace, or attic, it’s best to hire a professional to install the proper insulation materials. They are better equipped to identify which materials are best for the surface you’re insulating.
Another tip is to hire a qualified building energy professional or a specialized contractor to conduct a building pressurization test. This type of test reduces pressure inside of a home to narrow the focus on where air leaks might be. This test is also referred to as “blower door test” as they use a blower door — or professional-grade fan — to suck air out of your house, creating a pressure difference between the inside and outside. This allows them to identify and locate air leaks within the home.
Consider Energy-Efficient Windows

Because homes typically have many windows, they can be the largest source of air infiltration. This is especially true of older homes with wood windows that have a single pane of glass.
If you notice air leaks from several of your windows, consider energy-efficient windows. The upgrade could save you money and a lot of headache. Oftentimes, energy-efficient windows are made of synthetic material like vinyl with two to three panes of glass and argon gas to boost energy efficiency. This will help to keep heat inside during the winter months. A reputable company like POWER can help guide you when it comes to selecting windows for your home.
Inspect the Chimney and Fireplace

Fireplaces and chimneys get a lot of use during the cold season, creating a warm refuge indoors. With all of that use, it’s important to clean your fireplace and chimney to prevent the buildup of creosote. Creosote is a flammable byproduct of burning wood or coal, which can cause poor venting in your chimney. With nowhere for the smoke and fumes to escape, they can start to leak into your home, causing a fire or dangerous carbon monoxide leak.
To further prevent the buildup of creosote, make sure to burn hardwood instead of softwood. Softwood like pine, spruce, and fir tends to burn more quickly with a lot of smoke due to its high resin content, thus producing more creosote. Hardwood like oak, maple, hickory, and ash is denser, burns longer, produces more heat, and creates less smoke, making it a more efficient and safer option for your home.
Make sure to schedule an annual inspection and cleaning. For added safety, don’t forget to check the area periodically during the winter months — especially if it’s getting a lot of use.
Keep Gutters Clean
The most obvious time to clean your gutters may be fall. However, it’s not the only time of year they need your attention.

If you live in a region where snowfall occurs, it’s important to keep your gutters clear throughout the season to prevent excessive snow and ice buildup. This can create blockages in your gutter system, and pull them away from your house.
You should be routinely checking for melting snow and ice, which could result in water accumulation and roof damage. Don’t forget your downspouts too.
Ice dams are something else to keep an eye out for too. As snow lays on your roofing, a pattern of thawing and re-freezing can occur. If that ice forms along the edge of your roof, it creates a ‘dam.’ The dam blocks melting snow from properly draining off. That water penetration can then seep into your roof shingles and eventually cause leaking inside your home. It can also result in major weight that your gutter isn’t prepared to hold.
Trim Trees

With winter comes high winds, heavy snow, and ice, weighing down branches. To prevent roof damage from fallen branches, trim trees to keep your roof and power lines clear. The last thing you want during the cold winter season is a power outage or a hole in your roof.
If tree-trimming is beyond your home maintenance expertise, be sure to hire a professional arborist. They can not only do the job for you, but can also check the health of your trees — something the average homeowner might not be able to detect.
Add Rugs and Window Treatments

An easy fix that any homeowner can handle is to lay rugs and hang window treatments. They not only create a more aseptically pleasing environment, but they’re functional as well. By trapping in cold air, they add a layer of insulation. Consider curtains in a thicker material or fabric like velvet or there’s even thermal-insulated curtains and drapes these days.
Remember, you want to keep your window treatments open during the day to let sunlight and warmth into your space. If you close them at night, the curtains will act as buffer keeping out the cold air and retaining warmth in your home.
Pay Attention to Faucets and Pipes

If you’re in a region experiencing freezing temperatures, pay extra attention to your pipes and faucets.
First, you can turn your water faucets on to just a slow drip. The constant flow of water will prevent ice from forming and your pipes from freezing.
Another way to avoid pipes freezing is to place tubular insulation around them — even a pool noodle could work!
Stock up on Salt

Salting your driveways, porches, and sidewalks is a preventive step during the winter to protect your home and ensure your safety. But with the demand for salt during this time — especially in regions where winter weather is severe — it’s important to stock up ahead of the season to avoid the dreaded empty shelves at the store when you need it most. You can purchase salt at your local hardware shop, grocery store, or even gas station.
Inspect Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

In the colder months, we use more heating appliances like fireplaces and furnaces, which can increase the risk of fires and carbon monoxide buildup. That’s why it’s important to routinely check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors for any dust or debris in the vents.
Before you check your detectors, make sure you know which type you have first. You can either have a hardwired or battery-operated smoke detector. Hardwired detectors are more reliable and better suited for multi-level homes as they are hardwired to your home’s electrical system, but also have backup batteries in case of an outage. Battery-operated solely run on batteries, so they’re easier to install. However, they are not as reliable if the batteries are weak or dead.
You can also check your alarms by pushing the “test” button. If the alarm doesn’t go off, it either needs a new battery, is defective, or expired. Yes, detectors do in fact expire after 10 years. There should be an expiration sticker on the device. If there isn’t one, replace it with a new device to ensure you have a trusted detector to protect your home.
Contact a Professional
If any of these home winterization tips are out of your scope of expertise, reach out to a professional who can better service your home and your needs.
In the market for reliable, durable exterior products to protect your home? Check out POWER’s exterior offerings.
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