Winter Home Maintenance
Winter Home Maintenance Checklist
Ensure that all checklist items from the Fall Checklist have been completed.
- Cover outdoor pipes, add freeze protection covers to hose bibs.
- Drain pool and lawn sprinkler piping systems. Enquire from pool service company what they would charge – same with lawn maintenance – if you are uncertain how to drain these systems. Make sure all pool or lawn sprinkler system timers are shut off
- Check your radiant heaters, fireplace and chimney. (Fall checklist item, do now if not done.) Re-inspect carbon monoxide and fire detectors and test for operation. (Maintenance item from Fall Checklist but extremely important – if not done, do now.)
- Keep your plants healthy through the winter months. Bring potted plants inside and cover outside plants with a frost cloth after a light application of appropriate fertilizer. Wrap the trunk of young and ornamental trees with wrapping material. Both frost cloth and wrapping can be obtained from your local landscape or garden supply. Once done, add some extra mulch around the base of young trees.
- Fill or caulk cracks in concrete or asphalt sidewalks and driveways with a rubberized elastomeric compound; available in gray for concrete and black for asphalt, at your local home maintenance store. Filling these cracks will help prevent water from entering and freezing, causing damage from the expanding frozen water.
- Give the attic ventilation and insulation a quick check. Make sure that all soffit vents are not covered with insulation and are open for air to move. Make sure turbine roof vents are clear and free.
- Check for drafts around windows and doors; add caulk or weather stripping, as appropriate.
