A Winterized House is a Happy House

05/11/2012

Did you know your house hates winter almost as much as you do? When the snow starts to fly, you want to make sure you help your house with a few easy but important winterization tasks.

When the leaves turn from green to gold, you have about a month until you have to have someone come and clean out gutters so thawing snow and ice can travel away from the roof, down the gutters and into downspouts and underground drains. If leaves are allowed to collect in the gutters, the thawed and then frozen snow will collect on the tops of gutters and form dangerous icicles over porches and walkways.

September is time to change furnace filters and have the heating system checked for carbon monoxide leaks. If filters become too dirty, the flow of clean air will be minimized and will make your furnace work much harder than it needs to. The amount of dirt trapped in a filter is the amount that clean air needs to travel through to find its way into your house. Overworked furnaces will also create unnecessarily high energy bills and shorten furnace lives as well.

Proper grading and drainage will prevent water from finding its way down foundation walls and becoming trapped between the foundation and the dirt surrounding it. A long cold snap could cause bulging in the foundation walls as expanding ice pushes against them. During the summer months, make sure the grading around the house is creating a water shed so any melting snow is carried away from the house. Proper drainage and grading are the easiest ways to make sure water is kept away from your house.

By just remembering to have your heating and drainage systems in good working order, you are nearly assured that your house can have a happy and warm winter. Caulking around windows and doors, replacing weather stripping, adding insulation, replacing old casement windows with vinyl windows and promptly clearing walkways, paths and driveways from snow are also great measures you can take to avoid hefty energy and repair bills to your home.

This article was written by Greg Geller, owner of Vision Silver Services, 303-520-9022, www.visionsilverservices.com, your first choice in all inclusive and worry free home buying.