Winterize Your Home

Every single year you should take the important steps to winterize your home. This is prominent because you can surely save money when your home is ready for the winter. How is this possible? Well, you might be surprised because 40% of your energy bill is consumed naturally by the heating and the cooling of your home. In this case, it is being consumed by anyone recipe you use to heat your home. If you winterize, you're going to be able to sacrifice that ration in ways you never concept were possible.

So how can you winterize your home and save some serious cash?

Gutter History

1. Make sure you don't wait until cold weather has already set in. You want to winterize while the weather is still warm. When you do these tasks in warm weather, you are more motivated to get things done. You'll also find that the steps you take to winterize your home can also be useful all year round. You can look at this as a home revision task because, let's face it, you are surely enhancing your home in a lot of ways.

2. Make sure you get the surface work done first just in case you can't desist winterizing until cold weather comes. Go ahead and clean your gutters. This will keep melting snow from getting up under your shingles. This can make your roof last longer.

3. Make sure storm windows are installed before the first snowfall. If you can, put them up early. This is best than waiting.

4. Take care of any weather stripping colse to windows and doors that is cracked or worn. This weather stripping is meant to keep cold air out and warm air in, but that is not going to happen if it isn't completely intact. Try to find drafts colse to windows and fill them in. If the drafts are severe, you need to have your windows replaced.

5. Check attic insulation to ensure that the thickness is okay. If you don't think it is thick enough, add some more. It is best to have too much than not enough.

6. Check furnace filters to make sure they are clean. If they are not clean, install new ones or clean the ones you have. You would be amazed how much money is lost because of furnace filters that are naturally not clear of dust and debris.

7. Make sure you have good batteries in your thermostat. best yet, make sure you are dealing with an effective thermostat. If you're not, then you may want to try getting a programmable thermostat that can automatically operate temperature. When no one is home, it can automatically lower the temperature to save money.

8. Check the age of your furnace. If it is more than 10 to 15 years old, it is time for a replacement. There are much more energy effective models out there today. In the long run you will save more money.

9. Make sure you set your thermostat lower. You can save 3% of your energy bill for every degree that you lower your thermostat. naturally layer on clothing to stay warm and that will save quite a bit of money for the year.

10. Try energy effective blinds. These are special blinds that let in the sun's warmth during the day and keep the heat in at night when they are closed.

You'll be quite surprised at how much cash you can surely save by doing these things. If you don't, then you are spending a lot of money that you shouldn't have to spend. Sure, it does cost money to winterize your home or garage buildings, but that cost is nothing compared to the cost that you may have to pay to keep yourself warm in the winter.

Winterize Your Home

Use Water to Ruin Your Home's Foundation

If you want to ultimately cause structural issues with the foundation of your home. There are any things you can do other than taking a bulldozer to it. If however you want to preclude structural issues than you should still pay concentration so as to learn.

Gutters can be used to safe and to destroy a foundation. The goal and purpose of the gutters and the downspouts is direct water away from the home to preclude large amounts of water from gathering next to the foundation. Too much water next to a home can lead to any issues. One issue is the increased moisture can create conditions conducive to wood destroying insects and rot. This too can cause serious structural issues. however the other issue is a much faster way to cause damage.

Gutter History

Too much water near a homes foundation can also ensue in serious foundation issues. I often come over small cracks in foundations during home inspections. Small crack are fairly coarse and are not a definite sign of a structural issue. When I see large cracks it has always been in conjunction with too much water gathering around the house. The pressure of the water can push in on the foundation and cause major movement of the foundation and structural issues. The pressure is greater when the water freezes and expands.

So if you want to maximize and speed up the damage to you foundation one thing you can do is to catch the rain that comes off your roof in to your gutters and then direct that water right next to the foundation of your home. Good yet direct two or more downspouts to one side of the house right next to the foundation. This will make sure that there will be an immoderate whole of water collecting there. To make confident that the water will remain there create negative grading around your home.

Negative grading is when the ground surrounding your home slopes towards your home. This way covering water will flow towards your foundation manufacture confident that the rain water will not flow away. If you care about the value of your home then you should do a home inspection of your house and decree if the conditions are set up to maximize or minimize conditions that will create water pressure pushing sideways against your foundation. No matter what your goals you always need to know what the current situation is.

Use Water to Ruin Your Home's Foundation