Preparing The Exterior Of Your Home For A Harsh Winter

If winter is approaching and you know that you live in an area where you tend to get harsh winters with a lot of rain, snow, high winds, and ice, then you want to make sure you do everything you can around the exterior of your home to prevent problems from happening. Here are some winter tips for your home's exterior:

Turn off the sprinklers for freezing temperatures

If the temperature gets well below freezing during the winter months where you live, then you want to turn the sprinklers off for the season and store away the hoses. Turning off the sprinklers will decrease the chances of broken pipes, and storing the hoses will help prevent them from getting brittle and cracking, which would ruin them for the next year.

Keep your walkways salted

If the weather reports show rain with a chance of snow, or snow itself, then you should ice your home's sidewalks, the outside steps, and any uncovered porches ahead of time. The salt will make it so you don't end up with frozen walkways and steps that people can slip and get hurt on. You also want to salt other areas where people in your household may need to walk, such as the path to the mailbox or certain areas of the driveway.

Check your fencing

Take a walk around the perimeter of the yard and make sure your fence is in good shape. If there are any areas that look weak or damaged, then you should have them reinforced or repaired before those winter storms have a chance to set in and make the damage worse.

Check the roof

Take a really good look at your roof. If you don't feel comfortable going up on it, then you want to have someone else do it, unless you are able to see just about all of it from ground level. Make sure the flashing is in good shape. Also, make sure that the tiles or shingles are in solid shape.

Check the rain gutters

You want to take a close look at your rain gutters as well. Make sure you remove all debris out of them so rainwater will be able to flow freely to the downspout. If you find any weaknesses in the rain gutters, then you'll want to have someone come out to prepare them quickly, before you get caught up with worse damage and rain gutters that don't work properly right when you need them the most.

For more information, talk to companies like ultimate guttering.