Household Winter Preparation

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The Canadian winter is long and harsh, make sure as a homeowner that you best prepare your home and make the proper checkups and changes where necessary in order to get the best performance in the winter. Please follow the tips below.

The summer sun is fading and the feel of fall is in the air. Homeowners are busy making necessary repairs while the good weather remains, knowing that fixing minor problems now will prevent costly repairs in the spring.

According to Rick Felton, president of Homeservice Club, cleaning the eavestroughs should be at the top of every homeowners fall checklist. "Ice damming is a major cause of the roof repairs we see every spring" Felton said. "It maks sense to protect the investment in your roof with a simple eaves cleaning in the fall." Having the eaves cleaned after the last of the leaves have fallen will prevent ice from backing up in the troughs over the winter, causing expensive roof damage come spring.

Here are some other jobs that should be on a homeowner's winterizing checklist, especially here in Canada where it's extremely cold in the winter:

Check the roof : for trouble signs such as broken or missing shingles, cracked, buckling or curling shingles, or bare spots where the granular coating has worn off. Check flashing around vents, skylights and chimneys. Look for pieces that have peeled back and for cracked caulking that could allow moisture penetration.

Make sure gutters are in good repair and have loose or sagging eaves repaired. Ensure downspouts are working effectively and runoff is directed away from the foundation of your home to avoid damage.

Have the chimney cleaned and check the exterior struc ture for worn flashing, loose bricks or crumbling motar.

Fire up your furnace before the first cold snap to make sure it is operational. Book an appointment to have your furnace cleaned, inspected and safety checked, this is vital prior to the long and harsh winter.

Check doors and windows for proper caulking and weatherstripping. Do the draft test: hold a lit candle and run it along th eseams of doors and windows. a flickering flame means your heating dollars are going out the window. Check the bottoms of doors for a snug threshold seal or door sweep.

Drain exterior water lines, hose bibs, sprinklers, and pool equipment before the first major freeze.

Make sure your fireplace is in safe working order : CHeck the dampier for smooth operation and a snug fit. Look inside the fireplace to make sure no bricks are loose or broken. If your fireplace is smoking excessively, installing a chimney cap can cure the problem by improving the draft.

Remember that prior to the winter, you must take care of the leafs and your lawn in the fall.

As the weather cools, it is the ideal tim eto sow grass seed or lay new sod to establish healthy root growth over the winter. Apply a fall fertilizer. Once the weeds have been eliminated, have your lawn aerated and give it a virgorous raking to get rid of thatch. Apply a fall fetilizer before the first frost. Keep the grass at about two and a half inches during the fall months. Leaving some grass clippings on the lawn will return nitrogen back to the soil.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

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