6 tips to get your home ready for winter

You can feel it in the air — the mornings and evenings are cooler, and the calendar doesn't lie.

Winter is coming.

Will it be a Snowmagedden winter like 2015, or a milder winter like 2018 when you could often go outside without toques or mittens?

No matter what winter has in store, Jon Levy, a building inspector and owner of Buyer's Choice Home Inspections on P.E.I., offers some tips to get your home ready for the season.

Get your heating systems serviced 

There are some things you can do yourself to get your home ready for winter. This isn't one of them. 

"The biggest thing with the winter coming upon us is you want have your heating system up and running and make sure you have fuel and everything's in order there," Levy said.

"That's probably something that you want to get a professional to do."

Not only should your furnace be inspected once a year, he said, but also your heat pumps if you have them. If you have a wood burning stove, make sure the chimney is clean.

"That'll get you all ready and hopefully prevent any breakdowns or loss of use in the wintertime."

Vacuum your radiators

If you take your radiators apart, just remember how they go back on because in some cases the metal is cut for the size of where it needs to go. 

You should be able to vacuum them from the outside as well, Levy said. But if you want to be sure you get everything that might have fallen in there over the summer, then it is better to take off the covers.

"You're going to have dust on it the first time you use it, especially electric. They're going to cause a burn smell if you don't have them cleaned out," he said. 

"Hot-water baseboards do heat up as well, not to the same extent but they still can cause some damage to anything that might be in there, or electric ones especially if there's anything that's combustible, too close, or if there's paper or something that's come in, it could catch fire."

Check smoke and carbon monoxide detectors

This is especially important in the heating season, Levy said. He recommends changing the batteries every time the clocks change — spring and fall.

They should be placed on every level in the house, he said, especially near bedrooms.

If you park your car in the garage, make sure the garage door leading into your house has hinges that allow it to shut on its own.

"You want to make sure that your garage door has a self closure on it so that you don't get any fumes in that house or if there's a garage fire that it helps keep it out," Levy said.

Check the outside of your home

If you haven't already checked for damage from post-tropical storm Dorian, there's no time like the present, said Levy. Look for missing shingles, broken siding or cracked weatherstripping.

"Essentially want to protect your home from any moisture or water that may come in during especially the fall and the spring, a lot of rain. You can get snow in the wintertime coming in around your doors. So you want to make sure everything's sealed up to help protect your house."

It's also a good time to clean leaves and debris from eavestroughs, and make sure water can flow through freely.

"If the gutters are holding water in the fall and the water stayed there in the winter, the winter is going to cause it to freeze and that could cause your gutters to sag or potentially fall off," Levy said.

Check to make sure your chimney is in good shape and the flue is not blocked.

And don't forget to bring your garden hose inside before it freezes, and drain the water from the pipe leading to the outdoor faucet. If you don't have a shutoff valve, try putting some heat tape around the pipe.

Protect small trees and shrubs

"In our climate, they can be prone to damage, snow load or from the things hitting it," Levy said of trees and shrubs.

He suggests wrapping up shrubs in burlap and putting supports around small trees. If you have small trees planted by your driveway or sidewalk, it's also a good idea to put markers nearby to minimize damage from snowplows or snow blowers.

Driveway markers will also guide you when you shovel or blow snow so you don't end up wrecking your grass.

Keep the critters out

If you live in a home without a foundation, such as a mini-home or cottage, make sure the crawl space underneath is sealed with something like plywood or lattice. Levy advises.

"If you have holes in your skirting, obviously rodents, especially raccoons are a big one, they like to get in and get warm," Levy said.

"Once they get in, if they find a space where they can get up through the insulation they will make a nest. It'll be a mess in the future. A lot of people don't notice when this happens unless there's a hole on the outside or when it comes time for sale."

Also, he said, make sure the insulation on the bottom of the home is not cracked or falling down and the water pipes are protected from freezing or other damage.

Now you can sit back and be ready for whatever winter brings.

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