One thing Canada is known for: Its winters. Although the snow brings many exciting activities for you and your family to enjoy, it is often not kind to your home. Heavy snow, frigid temperatures and high winds result in a number of issues such as unwanted drafts, tree damage, and leaks.
As homeowners, damages like these can cost up to thousands of dollars to repair. If you’re looking to sell your home in the spring, issues like these may leave you in a tight time pinch as well.
In order to have your home ready to bear the winter and enter the spring season without any damages, here is a winter maintenance home checklist to get you started.
Check Your Smoke Alarms & CO Detectors
During the winter months, many are spending more time indoors. Whether it is the holiday season hosting and cooking, or tending to their fireplace during a frigid night, it is important to ensure that your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are up to date.
Pay Attention to Icicles
As mesmerizing as they are, icicles, or ice dams, pose a significant danger to you and your home. Ice dams form when melting snow drips down from your roof, and gathers along the edges of your roof. This accumulation of melted snow might penetrate the roof shingles, or fall unexpectedly.
You may consider hiring a professional to look at your eavestroughs and attic, to ensure there are not any areas of open airflow caused by the puncturing of ice dams.
Check The Exterior of Your Home for Potential Air Leaks
If you find your home has various drafts, you may be dealing with potential air leaks. Air leaks are common occurrences for homes in the winter, and are caused by the external seals on your windows and doors wearing away over time. This can contribute to higher utility bills due to the overuse of heating.
Take a walk around the exterior of your home, and examine the seals on each window and door for any missing caulking that could result in pockets of air seeping through. If you notice any, it’s best to get it fixed sooner rather than later!
Inspect Your Pipes Regularly
The last thing you want to be dealing with in the winter is a flooded basement! As water expands when it freezes, frozen pipes can burst without warning.
That is why it is important to regularly inspect your pipes (both internal and external) regularly, to ensure that you get ahead of the pipes freezing before it's too late.
Pay Attention to the Sound Your Heater Makes
If you notice any unusual new noises coming from your heaters, or if one area of the home suddenly seems colder, have the system checked out as soon as possible, since these can be signs that something is wrong.
You will want to get your air filters checked out regularly, to ensure that there are no prevalent issues or leaks. The last thing you want is to sell your home in the spring with a faulty heating system, or go through winter spending thousands of dollars in utility bills!
Natural Gas Inspection
As you are having your furnace inspected, you may want to consider getting your gas lines inspected as well. Not only will an inspection look at your hot water heater, gas fireplace, and other appliances known to produce carbon monoxide leaks, it will ensure that your home is safe for you and your family.
Have Your Home Ready for the Spring
Many of these winter maintenance checklist items can be done without the need of a professional, however, if you are looking for a thorough inspection to be done, it is highly recommended to enlist a professional. If you are looking to winterize your home before you sell it, it is best to get a professional inspection that you can then present to your potential buyers when you are ready to sell.
When it comes time to sell your home, Arise Mortgage is here to help you with all of your borrowing needs.