Understanding how to winterize a house is essential to protect it from freezing temperatures, snow, and ice. I’ll review the most important tasks you need to consider, outside and in, including cleaning out your gutters and weather stripping your windows, as I do.
I live in Pennsylvania, where winter temperatures can drop into the teens. Some of the ways we winterize our house include adding insulated faucet covers for exterior spigots, hanging heavy curtains to “zone off” colder rooms, and placing draft snakes at the base of our exterior doors.
I’ll share my successes (and a few failures) so you can learn how best to prepare your home this winter.
How to Winterize the Exterior
Preparing the exterior of your home for winter should be a top priority for any homeowner. Neglecting the outside of your home can lead to adverse conditions that directly affect your indoor living conditions and comfort.
Here are some effective strategies I’ve discovered that can help you winterize the exterior of your property:
Schedule a Roof Inspection
As a homeowner, scheduling a roof professional to perform a roof and attic inspection should be part of your winterization plan. The average homeowner, myself included, doesn’t want to climb on the roof with a ladder to inspect it.
Also, homeowners might overlook vulnerable areas and loose or absent shingles. Meanwhile, the buildup of heavy snow and ice on your roof can create additional risks for damage. And any exterior damage to your home will directly impact your indoor living conditions.
Pro Tip: Many roof inspectors also check attics for insulation or leaks as part of the roof inspection. Learn more about this process in our comprehensive guide: “What You Need to Know About Roof Inspections.”
Personal experience: When it comes to roof repairs or replacements, don’t delay! Not replacing an aging roof can lead to issues like water damage, as we experienced in our family room (see photo above).
Prepare Your Landscaping
Preparing your landscaping for winter is crucial not just for the health of your plants and trees but also to protect your home. Here are some tips for how to winterize your landscaping:
- Inspect trees: Check your trees for signs of disease and dead branches. Freezing temps and heavy snow can cause weak and dead branches to snap off and fall on your roof or car.
- Prune trees and shrubs: After conducting an inspection, consider hiring a tree service if the task is too large to handle on your own. It’s important to prune away dead or overgrown tree branches. Similarly, don’t forget to prune your shrubs to eliminate dead wood. Accumulated heavy snow can settle on shrubs, potentially damaging their branches and leaves.
- Bring potted plants inside: If you have plants in terracotta pots, which can crack, it’s important to move them indoors or to a sheltered spot to shield them from freezing temperatures.
Personal Experience: We had a really old silver maple with lots of dead wood in our backyard. I remember one winter ice storm: The winds were so strong, and it was icy and snowing. We heard this huge crash, and that massive 40-foot tree fell onto our roof. Thankfully, everyone was OK, but it was a scary moment! So, taking care of your trees can save your life.
Clean Your Gutters
Maintaining your gutters is an important task for homeowners to safeguard their property. This involves clearing out leaves and debris during the fall season to allow water to flow smoothly to the downspouts.
Proper gutter maintenance can also help prevent ice dams from forming in the winter due to blockages caused by fallen leaves. These ice dams can damage your gutters’ fascia, roofline, and siding. If left unaddressed, they may result in more serious structural problems, such as cracked foundations and other unforeseen issues.
My Tip: Remember that ice dams can still form, especially when temperatures exceed 32 degrees Fahrenheit, causing snow and ice to melt, followed by drops in temperature that lead to refreezing. In Pennsylvania, we often experience what I refer to as roller coaster weather.
Our temperatures can plummet to the teens with a hard freeze, only to rise to 50 degrees a few hours later before dropping below freezing again. This cycle of constant freezing and thawing can happen repeatedly. Therefore, taking care of your gutters during the winter months is vital to avoid serious structural damage.
Add Insulated Faucet Covers
We use an insulated styrofoam faucet cover to protect our outdoor spigot. This spigot is used to attach the garden hose to the house to get water to the backyard. During winter, we shut off the water to the spigot, detach the garden hose, store it in the garage, and then cover it with the insulated faucet cover. (If you have a dog, a plastic version is also available.)
Faucet covers are super easy to install. Watch the DIY Guy demonstrate this and a few other winterization tasks in this video:
Seal Off Exterior Wall Outlets
If outlets along your exterior walls aren’t properly sealed, they can cause drafts, even if your walls are insulated. To prevent this, you can use wall outlet sealers. These are foam pads that fit between the receptacle and the cover plate. They’re an easy, inexpensive solution to eliminate drafts.
How to Winterize the Interior
Our family uses several different interior winterization methods, including heavy insulated curtains and draft snakes, to keep our uninsulated home warm in the winter.
Although homes are built differently today, all the houses in our 1940s-built neighborhood lack insulation, and unfortunately, it’s not an easy fix. Due to the outdated wiring, the homes would have to be stripped down to their framework and rebuilt before they could be properly insulated.
Because of this, I know a thing or two about the importance of preparing the inside of your home for winter. Here are my tried-and-tested tips for keeping even an uninsulated house safe and warm(er) in the winter.
Check Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Since heating and candle fires peak in the winter months and we’re burning more fuels in our homes, it’s important to check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors before winter. These devices are your main warning signs if there’s a fire or a carbon monoxide leak. If a detector isn’t working right, it could put you and your family at risk without your knowing.
Smoke Detectors
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) suggests that you test your smoke detectors at least once a month and change the batteries at least once a year. If you hear that annoying, relentless beep from your smoke detector, you need to replace the battery.
You can test them manually by pressing and holding the test button. It may take a few seconds to activate, but you should hear a loud, piercing siren as long as the button is held down. If the sound is faint or absent, it’s time to change the batteries.
Here are some smoke detector tips:
- Dust and vacuum your smoke detectors before testing them.
- Check them every month.
- It’s a good idea to replace your smoke detectors every 5 years. However, their average lifespan is 10 years.
Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas produced when fuels burn incompletely. Sources in your home include your gas stove, fireplace, and generator, which are all commonly used during winter, increasing your risk. To avoid poisoning from this “silent killer,” check your carbon monoxide detector before winter to keep your family and pets safe.
As there are various types of carbon monoxide detectors, some of which can be connected to a home security service, review the manufacturer’s instructions before testing it for the first time.
Clean Dryer Vents
Maintaining a clean dryer vent is key for your home’s safety and ensures your dryer functions effectively and efficiently. Regularly cleaning your dryer vent can save your utility bills, safeguard your home, and reduce the time needed to dry your laundry.
Moreover, removing lint from the dryer vent prevents potential house fires. Accumulated lint can ignite, and if a fire occurs for other reasons, the lint can serve as fuel, exacerbating the flames.
Dodge Those Door Drafts
When you can feel the wind whistling through the gap between the door frame and the door or notice the curtains moving, your door has an air leak. If a complete door replacement isn’t within your budget, dodge those door drafts by hanging a heavily insulated curtain and laying down draft snakes at the base of your doors.
Hang Heavy Insulated Curtains
To hang over doors: Thermal insulated door curtains work well to help reduce drafts from older doors in your home.
To hang over doorframes: There is more than one way to use heavy insulated curtains: one is, well, to hang them over your windows. But you can also use them, as I do, to help block off colder areas of the house and retain heat elsewhere.
We “zone off” our family room from the rest of the house with these insulated (window) curtains (see photo above). This room gets so cold due to the many windows and because it sits on a concrete slab, so zoning it off with our heavy drapes helps concentrate heat in the rest of the house.
Reduce Drafts With Draft Snakes
Commonly referred to as draft snakes, draft stoppers, or door snakes, these tubes temporarily prevent drafts from entering beneath your exterior doors. They consist of a narrow, elongated tube filled with insulating materials. They are not attached to anything; we simply place them at the bottom of our doors.
Weather Strip Your Windows
Putting weather stripping on your windows is a great way to keep out cold drafts during the winter. It’s a semi-permanent solution because it can last a few years, but eventually, it will wear out and must be replaced. The materials used for weatherproofing can vary, and they might include sticky foam, rubber tubing, or tougher materials.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions, and be sure to take your measurements correctly before cutting the adhesive or tubing.
Before you hit “Add to Cart,” check with your city or state agencies. Often, power companies or environmental organizations provide energy audits, offer financial assistance, or sell winterization kits to help you make the most of your winterization dollars.
Learn More: Shrink wrap or plastic window film is another effective way to insulate your windows. Check out our article, “How to Weatherproof Windows,” to learn about the different ways to weatherproof your windows before winter.
Inspect and Repair Your Chimney
Make sure your chimney is ready for Ol’ Man Winter by inspecting or repairing it. Having a professional chimney company inspect your fireplace, chimney and all its components is the best way to ensure everything is safe and in working order.
Some components that directly impact your home’s interior include the flue damper, fireplace gasket, and chimney cap. We’ll explore each of these in greater detail below.
1. Test the Flue Damper
The flue damper is the device that allows air to move up the chimney before you start a fire. When not in use, remember to close it after the fire is out so that the warm air in your house doesn’t escape through the chimney. Ensure you know how to operate it correctly.
Personal Experience (Flue Before Fire): I wanted to use the fireplace, so I put a few logs in, lit them, and they easily caught fire. A few minutes later, when I returned, the whole living room was filled with smoke. My mom came running in, panicked, with a bucket of water and splashed the logs to put them out.
Then, she quickly pulled the chain that controlled the flue damper and hooked it into the open position. After a while, the smoke finally cleared. This is where I messed up and almost burned the house down — all because I forgot to open the flue damper.
Learn More: If you’d like to avoid my mistake, check out our article, “Ways to Prevent a Chimney Fire.”
2. Inspect the Fireplace Gasket
The fireplace gasket helps keep the fireplace door tightly shut. But if you keep opening and closing the door a lot, the gasket can lose its stickiness. A chimney professional might need to replace the gasket if it doesn’t stay closed.
3. Look at the Chimney Cap
A chimney cap prevents squirrels, birds, rain, and snow from entering your chimney and fireplace. Most chimneys have caps, so installing one is a good idea if you don’t already have one.
During your chimney inspection, they will point out if there’s any rust and/or damage. Metal caps can deteriorate over time, compromising your fireplace’s protection. Ensure your chimney is secure before lighting a fire!
Pro Tip: Check out our article on the cost of a chimney inspection to learn more.
Tune-Up Your Heating System
It’s crucial to have a properly functioning heating system to ensure your home stays warm during winter. Don’t wait for the first chill to realize that your heating system isn’t working as efficiently as it should. Here’s what you can do:
- Replace the air filter in your heating system regularly, typically every 1 to 3 months, depending upon the type and size of the filter. (Thicker filters usually need to be replaced less often because they have a bigger surface area to catch dirt and dust, which helps them last longer.)
- Arrange for a yearly maintenance inspection of your furnace or boiler to guarantee efficient operation.
- Install a programmable thermostat to help save on your energy bills. You can set your heating system to lower the temperature when you’re out of the house and raise the heat when you need to be warm.
Winterize Interior Pipes
Use foam pipe insulation to insulate your basement and crawlspace pipes. They look like baby pool noodles that are slit and have adhesive baking in the slit. Simply wrap the insulation around the pipes, remove the adhesive backing to reveal the sticky side, and press it firmly in place.
For additional support, add pieces of electrical tape at the joints and in areas that require extra reinforcement. See the video in the Faucet Covers section for a quick how-to demonstration.
Stay Warm When the Cold Winds Blow
I hope you will find, as I have, that winterizing your home yields dividends in comfort and energy savings for your home during the colder months. The best part is that most of these tasks can be done yourself and for very little money.
But don’t hesitate to hire a pro for some tasks, like a roof and chimney inspection. The money you spend is worth it to keep your family and your home safe as you prepare for the winter months ahead.
Read More:
- How to Keep Your Home’s Pipes from Freezing
- How to Winterize a House
- How to Know if Your Pipes Are Frozen
- How to Unfreeze Pipes in Your House
- How to Insulate the Pipes in Your House
Main Photo Credit: Pixel-Shot / Adobe Stock Free / License
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