Check your Pipes
Always insulate your pipes for the winter, keeping your pipes insulated will prevent any freezing that may happen over the colder months. If there’s some pipes you don’t use during the winter, like ones that go to an outside spout, turn them off and drain the pipe. And while you’re at it take your hoses off the house and drain those too. Any frozen water in a hose will make it crack and you’ll have to get a new hose next spring.
Fix your Cracks
When you’re doing your checks on your house make sure you check for cracks around windows, doors, air conditioners, and mail chutes. If you find a crack, fill it with caulk or a weatherstrip tape. If your home is still a bit drafty after all this try putting window insulation film on the inside of your windows, it’ll be an extra layer of protection just in case. Same with your doors, under the door draft guards are a great thing to keep out the cold that can seep through.
Check your Heating
Make sure you have someone out to check your heater and see if it needs a tune up, having your heater fail in the middle of winter in Michigan is not a good thing. And in the same vein check your filter on your heater, if it’s too dusty and ragged id get a new one. Though if it doesn’t look too bad, and just needs some of the dust knocked off, go ahead and knock the dust off outside and put that sucker back in.
Test your Detectors
Now that it’s colder you wouldn’t think about checking your smoke detectors, well you might want to. According to the national FIre Protection Association it’s more likely to have a home fire in the winter than in the summer. So make sure you test all of your detectors and replace batteries if they need it.
Check your Roof
Make sure you check your roof for any missing or loose shingles. This isn’t something you need a professional for at first. If you’re safe and have someone else to help you go ahead and check your roof for those pesky bad shingles. If you find any, look around your area for some roofers that are ready to fix a shingle or two.
Check your Insulation
If you have the space for it or the money for it, it never hurts to add an extra layer of insulation on top of your old one. Down in a crawl space or up in your attic adding some extra insulation can be beneficial in the long run. You should also double check that the insulation in your attic and crawl spaces aren’t bad, if they are it’s more beneficial to replace it than just add an extra layer.
Flush your Water Heater
This may not be something that people think of often, but you need to make sure you flush out your water heater. When you do this make sure you shut off all electricity and water to your heater before doing anything to it. You don’t need to create a flood or get electrocuted while you’re doing this. Draining your water heater will help remove the sediment in it, which if left alone can cause hot spots or a lower heating element to fail.
Clear your Drive
If you have a snow blower, double check that it still works. Start it up sometime before the snow comes and make sure it doesn’t need a tune up. If you don’t have a snow blower, or don’t plan on getting one, make sure that you get a shovel before the snow sets in. Getting a shovel in the middle of a snowstorm could be very dangerous, and if you wait too long you’ll be beating yourself up about not getting one sooner.
Prevent Slipping
Make sure you try and prevent any and all slipping this year, you never know what can happen and it’s always better to be prepared. Even if it’s just some salt on your driveway or the sidewalk anything can help. If you don’t want to use salt, sand is a good replacement.
Clear your Gutters
Make sure you clean out your gutters before the snow starts to fall otherwise you’ll have too much weight on them and come spring you might have to replace them. It is also a good idea to get gutter guards, though they can be a bit expensive so don’t worry if you can’t afford them, your gutters can survive the winter. Another good idea is to double check that they are sturdy, loose gutters with a bit of weight on them can still fall down.