Are you the type of person who bristles at the sight of Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving? Many of us want to enjoy fall and its holidays before fully embracing winter, but when it comes to preparing your home for the winter months, it could be costly to wait. Here are a few winter preparation tasks to finish ahead of the cold weather to ensure your winter is comfortable and your home is able to stand up to winter weather.
- Inspect your heater
In Oklahoma, it’s not a question of if you’ll need your heater this winter, but a question of when. Fall temperatures have been mild so far, but eventually, you’ll want to kick on your heater. Be sure to have a professional inspect it before you need it to ensure it’s both as efficient as possible and safe to use. Before the professionals arrive, you can perform so simple tasks yourself. Change the filters, clean the vents and look into your ducts for signs of leaks. Performing these tasks and having routine inspections can prolong the life of your heating system and ensure it doesn’t break down in the dead of winter.
- Prepare the outside of your home
By looking for damaged areas and properly sealing your home before the cold weather arrives, you help to make your home more energy efficient and easier to keep heated all winter. You also help to prevent moisture and water from causing costly damage to walls and floors. Start by walking around your home and looking for any cracks to the exterior. You can fill and seal any that you find with caulk. Then, look at the weather stripping around your doors and windows and replace any that is damaged. Ineffective weather stripping can allow a great deal of heat to escape your home and is inexpensive to replace so it’s worth this exercise.
- Yard maintenance
Most of us would associate yard work with the spring and fall, but there are a few chores to get out of the way to prepare for winter also. First, trim your trees that are close to your home. As snow and ice accumulate on the branches, they’re likely to break and fall on your roof, gutters or other areas of your home. Similarly, it’s important to trim shrubs and bushes before winter, especially those located near your air conditioner. Keeping the unit free of debris will be helpful when you’re ready to use it again next spring.
These three tasks will help you prepare your home for the winter months.
If you’re ready to move into a brand new home before Christmas arrives, contact us at Perry Hood Properties. We have several move-in ready homes that have been recently finished available in Tulsa, Broken Arrow and Bixby.