Winter Repair Dos and Don'ts

One common bond most humans share is that we put off tasks for as long as possible. Every winter, thousands of homeowners are left scrambling to complete winter maintenance tasks they had meant to finish earlier, but never got around to. Once that cold weather hits, they are reminded they need to change to winter tires, make repairs on the house, and so on. This is especially true if you're closing up a summer cottage or home for the winter.

Most of the time making these repairs in winter is fine, but once in a while there are tasks on your home that will just have to wait until the next spring. And if you're looking to have that home up for sale come spring, you want to keep the property in the best condition possible to get it ready for sale. Let's take a look at some winter repair dos and don'ts when it comes to the home.

DO necessary repairs to your furnace. A lot of the time if a furnace is going to break down, it will do so in winter when it is being used the most. If you hear any rattling or buzzing coming from your furnace when it turns on, get it looked at right away. If you've living somewhere cold, it can be a long and expensive season if this critical item is not working properly! And if you're thinking of selling your home in the future, this is one element of the house that every potential buyer will be looking at.

DON'T do any task that involves digging. Even if you can pull out the gardening hand tools and hack your way down into the ground and install that pipe or post, you will be wasting your time. The ground will shift when it starts to thaw, and that means you will have to dig again to make sure the fixture doesn't move. There'd be nothing worse than having a leak in a pipe connected to your sewage pump.

DO finish patching up any open spaces around your windows and doors. The caulk won't be affected by the cold, but we guarantee your heating bill will be! If you're trying to warm up the place this could really save you some cash. If it is time to call in a furnace repair technician to get your heat back working, don't wait until the weather turns cold to make the call.

DO turn off your outdoor water lines. Not really a repair, but if you neglect this you might find yourself making a lot of repairs to the damage of a flooded basement and in winter this task is that much harder!