The season is changing fast and cold nights and snowy days are upon us. The winter season can be the most challenging season for us all. The added stress of the holidays combined with less than perfect weather, certainly provides a most challenging season to deal with. Bearing through Winter is exactly what we do. We clench our teeth and push through until it’s time for that clock to spring forward again. Amongst everything else that we need to do for this cold season, protecting your home from future claims can be one that should not be overlooked. Winter is when your home is at its most vulnerable. Here are five tips to help protect your home against that winter storm:
- Keep your pipes warm. Some of the most expensive winter damage comes from bursting frozen pipes. Even though your home may be warm, the areas where your water pipes are may not be. Wrap those areas with insulation and open kitchen and bathroom cabinets so that warm air circulates. Also, it is a good idea to let the faucet drip to keep that water flowing.
- Avoid ice dams. Another very expense claim stems from ice dams. This happens when the heat inside your house causes water to melt in the middle of your roof and then refreezes near the edge. If you have icicles hanging from you house this could be sign that you have ice dams. To help protect against this keep your attic cold no more than 5 to degrees cooler than outside. Also, seal holes from light fixtures and ceiling fans to prevent warm air from escaping in to your attic.
- Check your roof. If we have heavy snowfalls the weight of the snow can become tremendous and the pressure this puts on your roof can be overwhelming. Invest in a roof rake with a long handle. This will help you clear the snow from you roof and ease the tension.
- Make sure you have carbon-monoxide detectors in good working order. Carbon Monoxide is an odorless gas that can kill you. If you do not have a device that is monitoring the levels of Carbon monoxide you will never know you are breathing this in. Please make sure you have a sufficient number of these and they are all in good working order. They could save your life.
- Consider purchasing a generator. A generator can help keep your heat and power going if the electricity goes down. Not to mention the all-important television if you are snowed in.
I hope these five moves to make in order to protect your home was a help. It is better to prepare now than have a loss later. Nobody wants to go through a claim during the winter months.
