Protect your home from winter drafts

If your house has old doors, winter can be a drafty time of year. Luckily, there is an easy, do-it-yourself fix to help you keep the cold air out and the warm air in where it belongs. Here is my guide to sealing your doors before the cold sets in.

Examine your current weatherstripping for any rips, bends or wear and tear. In older doors, the seals usually deteriorate before the doors themselves, which will allow air to pass through. If you can feel a draft coming from the edges around a closed door, it’s time to give them a little facelift.

Measure the top and sides of your door jambs with precision; you want the fit to be snug and airtight. I always say, measure twice and order once! Once you measure the doors, you’ll find the materials that you need either at the local hardware store or online on any home improvement retail site. In addition to weather stripping, you might also need a sweep, which is the strip along the bottom of the door that looks like a tiny broom and keeps the gap between the door and the floor sealed. If yours is damaged or has broken off in parts, now is a good time to replace it. Luckily, basic individual weatherstrips and sweeps can cost as little as $10 each, which is a lot less than investing in a new door.

Just like painting, when you start weatherproofing you’ll need to begin on a clean surface. Scrape any old debris so the gap is free and clear. You want to make sure your gap is in good shape to lay the strips evenly and you need to have enough room for the strips to grip properly.

Finally you can install your new weatherstripping. Cut it to size before you put it into the groove and ensure that you don’t stretch the material to fit – it will return to its original size and leave you short. Secure it firmly into the groove and open and close the door to look for any protrusions or gaps.

Weatherstripping is a quick, inexpensive fix that will help you stay warm in the winter and give your heating bill a noticeable break. But just like any home improvement tasks, if you’re not comfortable using basic tools and equipment, you might want to leave the job to a professional. Either way, keep your family warm this winter and take some time for yourself to enjoy the holiday season.

Decorate Your Home Safely this Holiday

It’s December, which means it’s time to light up the house with holiday cheer. But before you go trimming your home with festivity and lights, there are a few things you should know about hanging wreaths, lights and décor safely, so your home stays damage free and you don’t end up in the emergency room.

When hanging lights and decorations outside of your home, be sure to use a safe ladder that sits on level ground and can hold your weight properly. Always have someone with you to act as a spotter and don’t ever attempt to hang décor that’s out of your reach.

If you’re going for the Griswold effect, make sure you read the labels on your lights to ensure you have the right wattage levels and that they are certified for outdoor use. The last thing you want to do is overload your circuits and end up in the dark, or with a nasty shock. Inspect older lights for bad bulbs and stripped wires, and replace problem strands with new ones. I recommend LED lights, which run cooler, are more energy efficient and will have less of an impact on your power bill. Make sure all your lights are plugged into ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs), which can be found at the local hardware store.

When hanging heavy décor such as wreaths, do not drill holes into your vinyl siding. Once the wreaths have been removed, the holes will enable water to get underneath the material, causing potential mold, mildew and leaks. Instead, purchase some heavy-duty siding hooks, which can be found at any home goods store this time of year. They will be able to withstand the weight of your decorations without damaging your home.

If you’re putting Santa and his sleigh to top of your home, make sure to secure him and any other inflatables tightly to withstand any wind and bad weather. Also, use the opportunity to inspect your roof for any missing or damaged shingles. Finally, take a look at your gutters to make sure they are free from debris and ready for the winter. Roof and gutter wear can cause leaks during the snow season, so it’s better to get them repaired now before it’s too late.

Speaking of preparing for the snow, here’s one last tip. Grab some reflecting stakes from the hardware store and place them along the perimeter of your yard, where it meets the road and your driveway. These place markers will help snow plowers see where your yard begins and can help them navigate their snow removal without tearing up your lawn.  

Do you have another holiday safety tip to share? Send it to me on Facebook.

Fix Little Things Now to Save Big Later

When you own a home, it can feel like something is always going wrong, especially if you purchase an older home and inherit the problems that go with it. There are a few things you can let go, and there are others that, with a quick fix, will allow you to breathe a sigh of relief in the long run. So in the spirit of Black Friday, here are my top tips for big home improvement savings.

Overflowing Gutters

This autumn the leaves fell late, which means your gutters might be filled to the brim with debris. Clean them out before the snow comes or you might be looking at thousands of dollars in water damage. If your gutters are clogged up, the water from the snow has nowhere to go – so it will either seep into your roof or pour down into your foundation. Either way, a season of repetitive flooding might be too much for your home to handle. Call a professional for a gutter cleaning, or if you’re comfortable on a ladder you can do it yourself with a scoop or lawn blower.

Deteriorating Deck

If you’ve been out on your deck all summer, you may have noticed a few loose, soft or sagging boards. To check the damage, poke the boards with a screwdriver and see if the wood feels spongy. If it does, you could have rot. Rather than spend thousands to remove the whole deck, pull off the damaged boards and replace them with new wood before giving the deck a fresh coat of paint or stain to protect it before winter.

Moldy Foundation

Mold can be a fairly straightforward problem to deal with, unless you have it growing on your foundation. If you have plants and shrubs along the base of your house, the water you use to keep them hydrated and happy could be seeping down into your home, causing mildew and eventually rot. Check the perimeter of your home for any signs of mold, and take a look to see if plant roots are starting to crawl around your foundation. A good rule to follow is to keep shrubs at least three feet from your house and choose plants that are compact growers. A quick check and some pruning could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars in damage repair.

Worn Wood Floors

If you have old wood floors, keeping them fresh with a protective layer of topcoat can prevent them from splitting, splintering and drying out. If you are starting to detect signs of wear, sand down your floors and apply a new coat of polyurethane. You can also opt to rent a floor polisher from your local hardware store. Some simple upkeep every few years should save you from replacing the entire floor, and from the bill that goes with it.

Peeling Paint

If you notice paint peeling on the outside of your home, now is a great time to scrape, sand, prime and re-paint the exterior. Not only will it make a huge difference cosmetically, it will also protect your home from seasonal rain, snow and wind damage. If the paint is only peeling in certain areas, it might be because that area is prone to flooding, so take care and inspect any wood for rot, especially around window sills and door frames.

Home maintenance can be a pain but spending thousands on unnecessary replacements is a whole heck of a lot worse. If you’re not sure where to start, a home improvement specialist can give you a thorough inspection to identify potential problem areas before they become a major headache. Enjoy your leftovers everyone and Happy Thanksgiving weekend!