Is your Markham home ready for the harsh winter weather? Various areas of your home can experience quite a beating during freezing temperatures and excessive snowfall. Unfortunately, many homeowners don’t take the time to properly prepare their house for this rough season.
To help you best prepare for the long winter ahead, here are a few home maintenance tasks you may want to place on your to-do list this week.
Service Your Furnace
Servicing your furnace should be a priority each year. This will ensure that this crucial home device is working well. It will also improve its energy efficiency, helping you reduce your monthly energy bill.
You should always hire a professional to complete this task to make sure your furnace receives proper maintenance. Additionally, an expert knows what to look for and can decrease the risk of something major happening in the middle of winter that could affect the heat in your home.
Check the Seals Around Your Windows
Over time, small holes and gaps can occur in the seals around your windows. The hot air in your Markham house can escape through these holes, decreasing your home’s energy efficiency and creating pockets of cold air near your windows. Spend some time checking all the seals on both the interior and exterior of your windows. Replace all broken seals and fix any small cracks or holes that you may find.
Prevent Your Pipes from Freezing
During the winter, one of the last things you want is frozen pipes. While keeping the heat on at your house at all times is one great way to prevent this from happening, you may need to let some faucets drip slowly to keep water constantly flowing, making it harder for these items to freeze.
For all of your outdoor faucets, make sure hoses are disconnected from outdoor spigots and put away in a shed or garage for the winter. If you have older spigots, you may consider covering them to prevent freezing.
Replace All Weatherstripping
Weatherstripping prevents hot air from escaping through the cracks around your exterior doors. If the weatherstripping is in poor condition — which happens over time — you will want to replace it. This is a simple task and takes very little time and knowledge to complete. Just make sure you purchase the right type of weatherstripping for your particular door.
Make All Winter Items Easy to Grab
Is your snow shovel still tucked away from the summer months? Do you know where the salt is to place on icy sidewalks? These are items you will want to have out and ready for those first large snowfalls. If you cannot find these items or there is little salt left, you may want to head to the store so you don’t find yourself without the items when you need each one the most.
For more home improvement tips, updates on the current real estate market, buying and selling advice, and much more, visit Markham real estate agent Martin MacFarlane’s blog.
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