Health & Fitness
Do Some Home Maintenance Before Winter
Homeowners need to perform some basic maintenance now to ensure their home can withstand winter's harsh weather.
With winter fast approaching in the Cleveland area, homeowners are busy closing up their homes in anticipation of the cold weather and snow. But before the winter hibernation begins, some annual maintenance needs to be performed to ensure your home is ready for winter’s blast.
There are certain things homeowners should do annually at this time of year to make sure their home isn’t damaged by a harsh winter and to lower their energy bills and increase their indoor comfort.
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In addition to storing outdoor furniture, putting in storm windows and cranking up the snow blower, there are three additional key areas homeowners should focus on to prepare for winter:
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1. Gutters and Downspouts – Make sure gutters and downspouts are free of leaves and other debris and are properly aligned to allow melting snow and ice to drain and help avoid ice dams.
2. Windows and Doors – One of the best ways to eliminate cold drafts and lower energy bills is to caulk around all the windows and make sure the weather stripping is sufficient around any entry doors and door walls. This will ensure that the home’s heat stays in the home and decreases your energy bill and increases your indoor comfort.
3. Furnace/Humidifier – Make sure you change your furnace filter and keep extras on hand so you can change them once a month to improve your furnaces air flow and keep the dust down in your home. Then clean or change the pad in the humidifier and make sure the water valve is turned on.
Even though we have already started to experience winter weather, there is still time to do some preventative maintenance around the home to ensure you won’t have to worry about bigger problems when we really get blasted by the weather.
Cindy Griebeler is the owner of HandyPro-Northern Ohio and provides both home maintenance and senior home modifications for the Western Cleveland-area suburbs including the communities of Avon, Avon Lake, Bay Village, Columbia Station, Lakewood, Olmsted Falls, North Ridgeville, Rocky River, Sheffield, Sheffield Lake and Westlake.For more information, visit HandyPro’s website at www.handypro.com or call (440) 653-8011.