As the temperatures in Durham and the surrounding areas start to drop you may or may not be thinking about ways to prepare your home for winter. If you haven’t began to think about preparing your home for winter, the time to act is now. This is especially the case during a year when the National Weather Service is predicting a variety of strong winter storms that may affect homeowners in North Carolina as well as around the country.
Below are a few home maintenance tips that can help ensure you’re ready to take on old man winter this year!
Closing your foundation vents prior to the onslaught of cold weather can help to prevent frozen water lines in your crawl space. When foundation vents are open cold air can freely travel into your crawlspace causing the temperature under your home to significantly drop. This can not only lead to frozen pipes but also floors that may not be especially comfortable (especially if you have hardwood flooring in your home).
It’s a good idea to setup some sort of schedule for when to check the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors if you have gas in your home. The winter time is as good a time as any, especially if you have a gas furnace that may be working overtime due to cold temperatures.
Before the temperatures drop too much make sure all of your windows are securely shut and latched to prevent cold air from entering and warm air from escaping during the winter.
One of the most common ways that pipes freeze under a house is when pipes are left connected to spigots during the winter. As general contractors we’ve seen this time and time again where homeowners forget to disconnect these spigots, which can cause major problems in the form of frozen pipes and potentially significant water damage.
5. Leave Faucets Dripping on Especially Cold Nights
When the temperatures drop down into the teens at night it’s a good idea to leave your faucets dripping ever so slightly to prevent your interior plumbing pipes from freezing. This is especially the case with pipes that are located in exterior walls that can be more exposed to the extreme temperatures.
If you’ve decided it may be time for a more serious upgrade this winter it may be a good time to call in the general contractors at Prince & Sons, Inc. We’ve been providing general contracting services to residents of the Triangle area for years and would be more than happy to discuss any type of home remodeling needs that you may have.
Give our office a call today at 919-383-0888 and we’ll be happy to setup a consultation with one of our project managers.