How To Winterize Your home or Cabin

Knowing how to winterize your home or cabin is extremely important in maintaining your home and preventing expense mishaps. Frozen pipes can cause more damage than you can imagine.

Here are some important steps to winterizing your home.

Take care of your pipes

Making sure your pipes are insulated and ready for a cold snap is extremely important. Start early so you are prepared for an early arrival of winter.

If you live in the home full time, when the temperatures are going to dip below freezing you can open your taps to allow a small flow of water through the faucet. Moving water does not freeze as fast. You will also want to protect the pipes with sufficient insulation.

If your home or cabin is a vacation home, you will want to take some further steps. When your home is going to be empty, make sure to turn the water off and to drain all of the pipes. Some home owners will blow the excess water from their pipes using an air compressor. This is a step you can take if your cabin is a summer house and you won’t be there all winter. If you will be intermittently using the home, it is easier to put a cup or more of R.V. grade antifreeze down the drain. This type of antifreeze is generally considered safe for pipes and waste water systems.

You may think about using a heat source on your hard to get to or basement pipes to prevent freezing. Products from companies like Omega have some interesting products. We haven’t tried this yet but are thinking about it!

How to thaw your pipes if they do freeze

If you turn on a faucet and only a trickle comes out, suspect a frozen pipe. Likely places for frozen pipes include against exterior walls or where your water service enters your home through the foundation.
Keep the faucet open. As you treat the frozen pipe and the frozen area begins to melt, water will begin to flow through the frozen area. Running water through the pipe will help melt ice in the pipe.
Apply heat to the section of pipe using an electric heating pad wrapped around the pipe, an electric hair dryer, a portable space heater (kept away from flammable materials), or by wrapping pipes with towels soaked in hot water. Do not use a blowtorch, kerosene or propane heater, charcoal stove, or other open flame device.
Apply heat until full water pressure is restored. If you are unable to locate the frozen area, if the frozen area is not accessible, or if you can not thaw the pipe, call a licensed plumber.
Check all other faucets in your home to find out if you have additional frozen pipes. If one pipe freezes, others may freeze, too.

Clean your gutters and check to make sure they don’t need repair

If your gutters don’t drain well they will accumulate water. During a cold spell this water will freeze and damage your gutters. You may also have a dangerous situation on your hands if the gutter breaks and the ice falls.

Seal all the gaps

Seal all gaps in your doors and windows. Check on your basement or crawlspace vents to make sure there are no holes that critters can get into. You may also want to put a piece of aluminum foil over the vents. Don’t restrict the airflow but aim to prevent snow blowing into your basement or crawlspace.

Clean your chimney

If you have a wood burning stove or fireplace, make sure you are maintaining your chimney with regular cleaning and checks. Without proper air flow, dangerous smoke can fill your house causing a potentially life threatening condition. Fire danger is also a concern if your chimney is dirty.

Test your smoke and CO2 monitors

It goes without saying that even if you don’t have a fire place, the danger of a house fire or CO2 buildup is very real. Especially if you hear your home or cook with natural gas or propane, you NEED a CO2 monitor. Typically, you will need a CO2 monitor on every floor and smoke detectors in each bedroom as well as on each floor. Check your local codes to find out the specific requirements for your area.

Winterize the exterior of your home

Remove and store any hoses and gardening equipment. Homeowners should also clean up debris and items that may cause trips or accidents during the winter. You wouldn’t want to trip or drive over something that is buried under the snow. Lot’s of homeowners forget this when they winterize their home!

Prepare your driveway

If you live in an area that experiences heave snow, you will want to put up a way for plows to know where your driveway is. Usually homeowners opt for a very easy and affordable options such as a 5 gallon bucket with a long pole balance in either cement or stones to keep it upright. But there are really nice ones you can buy most hardware stores or online!

Prepare ahead of time

Having salt/ice melt available when the first snow falls is handy. When you winterize your home, don’t wait to buy it afterwards, have it ready by the door in a small aluminum trashcan or similar will save you time and anguish. And possibly slips and falls. Get your snow shovel out of storage and ready the sleds!

Being prepared to Winterize your home early and thoroughly will ease your mind.