Winterizing your New Home

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When you purchased your new home in the Brazos Valley this spring or summer, no one probably mentioned you will need to winterize it before the colder temps hit. If your house is not properly prepared, it could lead to costly headaches like burst pipes, fallen gutters and more. With a little work, you can avoid any winter weather issues.

Winterizing Task #1 – Clean and Protect your Gutters
Be sure you clean out all your gutters thoroughly. Clogged gutters will hold water and when it freezes, it can become too heavy and make the gutters rip away from the house. Also, any icicles caused by water spilling over from the gutters and freezing may look pretty, but can be very dangerous if they break off and hit someone. Once they are cleaned out, install gutter protectors to keep the leaves and debris out.

Winterizing Task #2 – New Filters
Replacing you air conditioner system's filter will ensure your home will stay properly heated during the colder days and night. Properly heated homes can usually avoid nasty issues like broken pipes and extremely high electricity bills.

Winterizing Task #3 – Insulate the Windows and Get Draft Guards
This can be done with a few rolls of window film and a few guards. This too will help the home retain heat.

Winterizing Task #4 – Reverse Ceiling Fans
Most ceiling fans have a switch on them so in the winter months they can turn in the opposite direction. Why is this needed? This will help to push the heat sitting on the ceiling to be pushed downward. This is a great way to evenly heat your home and is a budget saver as well.

Winterizing Task #5 – Insulate Pipes
Before freezing temperatures hit, you will want to be sure your pipes are protected from freezing. The easiest way to do this is to buy some pipe insulation from a hardware store.  Simply cut it to fit your outside exposed pipes and faucets.

These simple tasks can save you several hundreds of dollars and several unneeded headaches by having to deal with broken pipes, injuries from fallen icicles, or replacing your home's gutters. Winters in Brazos Valley are not as harsh as they are in other parts of the country, but they can be just bitterly cold enough to cause their share of property damage for those unprepared for them.

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