Home maintenance is an important job for any homeowner, but there’s a very limited period of time where you will have the freedom to do this thanks to weather constraints. This is especially true when wishing to work on the exterior of the house or in the garden.
The winter not only prevents you from doing all the DIY jobs you need to, but is also the cause of most of the problems you will be trying to prevent. Here are some of the most serious aspects you will need to address before this winter (try not to be too daunted by them):
- Clean your gutters: the more clogged up these become, the greater the risk of damp entering your home. Damp can be a very difficult deal with, particularly over the winter months and if you are not careful, it can cause structural damage. This isn’t a task that will take longer than a few hours.
- Patch up your roof: a leaking roof in winter can spell an entire season of misery for you and your home.
- Check your decking: in winter, decking and other surfaces can become dangerous and slippery. Clear them of leaves, moss and dirt to avoid this. (It may be wise to paint the decking too, as you won’t have another opportunity over the winter.)
- Whilst painting, it can be a good idea to paint your outside furniture too to ensure that everything looks as good as it possibly can do. Remember metal surface paints such as Rust-Olem should be used on the appropriate surfaces for the best results.
- Review walls: It is important to make sure that there are no cracks in your walls as it will make the interior of the home colder – which will end up costing you money in central heating during the chillier months.
- Check your chimney: Damage to a chimney can be disastrous, not only because of the calamity of a collapse due to the wind but also a damaged chimney can allow water to fall through which will soak the interior.
- Trim the garden: trimming any larger shrubs and bushes that will have had heavy growth over the summer can be sensible even with the diminishing growth that occurs over winter. You should also consider your trees cutting or trimming with companies like: thelocaltreeexperts.com/nv/reno/
- Prepare what your garden will look like next year: you should be planting for the year ahead as despite what most people think, gardening remains a year-round affair. It is not simply limited to the spring and summer.
- Clean your gardening tools and utensils so that they’re ready for next spring, waiting for you to get back to enjoying the more pleasant seasons!
- Keeping on top of this work will not only ensure that the home is a pleasant place to spend the winter months but will also add value to the resale price.
- One more thing: check your sprinkler system. Besides maintaining your garden to keep it beautiful even after winter, you should also think about the safety of your water source. Pressure changes in water pipes can cause backflow from sprinklers to seep into the potable water supply. This can lead to water contamination that may cause serious health hazards. Prevention is always better than scrambling for a remedy. That’s why it’s best to check your sprinkler system and equip it with backflow preventer valves for protection to reduce the risk of contamination.
