Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is around the corner. Our days are getting shorter and the weather is getting colder. Now is the time to do a few more things around your house that may save you some heartache over the winter. At Absolute Painting we prefer to be proactive instead of reactive.
My last blog talked about getting the leaves off of your decks and helping to keep your deck in good condition over the winter. Now I am talking about some easy things you can do to protect your home so it does not fail on you when the bad weather hits. 
The first thing I do this time of year is to go inspect my furnace and make sure it is working properly. I remove the filter and inspect it to make sure it is not too dirty. In most cases the filters should be cleaned or replaced every few months. I prefer to replace mine about every three months so it does not clog up and get inefficient. My furnace has completely stopped working from this happening in the past so I am overly cautious.
The next thing I will do is to go remove all the hoses from the house and cover the water outlets to prevent frozen pipes. This takes about 10 minutes to do but can save you a lot of money. You can buy the faucet covers at most stores that sell hardware. I also recommend looking for any exterior pipes that may be exposed and covering those with some foam covers as well.
After all the pipes and faucets are covered I recommend covering any air vents that might go under your home. Some have plastic covers that you can flip up to prevent airflow but I prefer to cover mine with foam covers that are meant to fit in them. I got mine at Home Depot and they have different sizes so make sure you know what size you need when you go to buy them.
You can probably do most of these things before lunch on a Saturday if you know what you are doing. If you do not know how to do these things you might call someone to help winterize your home like a handyman. The money spent is well worth the money you could end up spending if you have a problem later on.
Call us at Absolute Painting & Power Washing with any questions you have on this.
