Home Safety Precautions for Winter

With the coming of winter, it is essential to remind ourselves of the small tips and tricks that keep us out of harm’s way. Depending on where you are living, the weather conditions can vary in severity, however, this doesn’t mean that you are completely immune to all the general hazards that come with the arrival of cold weather. The forfeit of summer can often announce that rainfall, snow, and blizzard-like weather events will take the place of a warm and carefree day. This brings potential dangers in the forms of icicles, water leaks, and home exterior facade damages.

 

Preparing and getting your equipment to make sure that your safety precautions for winter are completed may take time but it is highly recommended. In the meantime, we suggest that you start with easy and generally free methods such as the ones we listed below for you in our blog post.

Inspecting and Repairing Before Winter

Search for Leaks and Drafts

Water leaks and drafts can severely prevent the circulation of your heating during winter. This will both affect your bills and might cause unwanted damages to the sections of your home. It is always a good idea to have a thorough check for these especially if you can foresee a wet season coming ahead. Repairing water leaks in advance is also pretty easy. Here are some of our nifty tips to seal your leaks and drafts:

• You can utilize foam, caulk, or similar supplies to insulate your doors and windows,
• Using storm doors can be a good idea to prevent loss of heat at frequently used entrances,
• Actively search for leaks and cover them up to prevent possible damages to your rooms,
• Insulate pet doors and mail slots to keep the warm air in and cold air out,
• Use plastic/bubble wraps, insulation kits, and similar items to seal up the windows and doors that you are not using,

 

Check Your Chimneys and Furnaces

Firewood and heating are inseparable elements of a lovely autumn or winter season. If you have a chimney or furnace it is no doubt that you will use it at some point or perhaps every day. Furnace and chimney repairs are vital for your home’s heating. However, if their maintenance has not been made for a while they can be potentially harmful to your home.

 

While using our chimneys and furnaces are super cool and comforting they can bring negative perks such as fumes and smoke. Don’t forget that carbon monoxide can be dangerous if your heating pipeline is not maintained regularly. That’s why it is imperative to have them inspected before you use them. This will give you peace of mind and prevent undesired heat loss. Additionally, it is one of the best times to invest in a chimney cap or furnace filter, depending on which ones you have.

 

Prepare for Storms and Tough Weather Conditions

Checking weather station news regularly is an excellent way to prepare yourself for the upcoming foul weather conditions! It’s always better to prepare for an upcoming storm-like weather condition in advance. This way you can trim trees, check for damages on your roof shingles, clean your gutter protection systems or gutters, whichever you currently have, and make sure that your home’s exterior is safe and sound.

 

As another tip, you can additionally prepare a medical kit for health emergencies and a car emergency kit to make sure your car’s maintenance or repair won’t be a problem. Finally, you can get a portable generator for situations where electrical cuts can be expected for a long amount of time.

 

Trim Tree Branches, Inspect Your Roof and Clean Your Gutter Guards

Our roofs are mostly neglected if they look like they are durable and sturdy. However, unlike how many people think, even the best gutters can require good maintenance from time to time especially if you do not have a gutter protection system previously installed. If you do not have one yet, installing gutter guards is also quite a breeze as generally many of the local services can do it in a day or two. All you have to do is order gutter guards in your preferred style. You can acquire samples such as our gorgeous copper gutter guards in advance to see if their luxurious style is a good fit for you.

 

Gutter guards not only increase the lifetime of your gutters, but also prevent water leaks, clogs, the spread of the fungus, and other potential damages both to your gutters and home. High-quality gutter guards come with the perk of being maintenance-free. If for some reason your gutter guards are not maintenance-free ones then you might need to clean your gutters by removing your gutter guards first. Now your next question you ought to ask the question, how to remove gutter guards for cleaning? It’s quite simple as seen below:

• Acquire a ladder, one preferably with rubber soles on its stairs and fixed to a point,
• Clean the debris on your gutter guards with a brush and use a water hose if there is dirt,
• Locate and loosen the screws with a screwdriver or preferably power drill,
• Gently place the gutter guards on the floor to prevent them from accidentally dropping off your roof,
• Clean the interior section of your gutters with a durable brush,
• Afterward, place everything back in place, and voila! You are done.

 

Thus, how about considering getting a maintenance-free gutter protection system? You won’t need to perform any of those steps and never have to worry about cleaning, repairing, or dealing with your gutters ever again.

Aside from gutters, another element that is vital for your roof security is tree branches. One of the main reasons people trim their trees is due to the icicles forming on them. This can create dangerous situations where your kids, pets, or your home’s exterior can be potentially be harmed and nobody wants that! Thus, it is essential to trim your neighboring trees, within your property, of course, to make sure that you can abolish this situation altogether. You can get tools for trimming tree branches from your local market such as garden scissors for twigs and lopping shears for thick sections.

 

Secure Your Garage and Vehicles

Our garages and vehicles are perhaps one of the most susceptible possessions we have against adverse weather conditions. This is because they spend the majority of their time outside and are prone to direct interaction with rain, snow, and similar weather.

 

For garages, make sure to check every corner for possible leaks and ventages. It is a good idea to add insulation to your garage door if cold weather gets inside when you close the door. This will prevent from cold air circulating within a section of your home and increase the overall temperature of your home. It also makes sure that your items are not affected by the cold weather.

 

For your vehicles, make sure they are in a garage if you have one at all possible times. If not, parking them in a safe spot where there aren’t large naked tree branches where icicles can form and drop on them is a solid idea. More importantly, have your vehicle maintained by checking its radiator, tires, and machinery. Using a wintertime formula for your windshield washer and getting anti-freeze agents are also certainly recommended.

 

This is the end of our blog post for “Safety Precautions for Your Home”! If you are interested in learning more information regarding gutters, gutter cleaning, and gutter protection products you can check our other blogs such as “Add Luxury to Your Home with Copper Gutter Guards”, “Beautiful Gutter Guard Colors to Decorate Your Home”, & “5 Home Improvements You Can Do for Fall”.

 

We’re sure you’ll find more information in regards to gutters and home care with our future blog posts as well. Until next time, be safe and in good vibes!