November 23, 2012

Tips To Maintaining Your Home This Winter

Well the rain is here and with December just around the corner, it’s only a matter of time until Jack Frost rears his chilly head. As a premiere Vancouver Home Builder for over 25 years, Wallmark Homes has gained vast array of knowledge when it comes to building and maintaining your home. Whether you have a new custom home or a turn of the century heritage home there are several things that you can do to make sure that you and your home is ready for whatever this winter has in store for us.

Empty the leaves and debris from your gutters – Now that the trees are bare and the leaves have landed in the most inconvenient places, on the roof and in the gutters, it’s time to break out that rake. Sure it would be easier to leave them until the snow falls and covers them, however, this will create more work later. When leaves and debris are allowed to build in gutters they can create a dam preventing water from draining properly which will lead to water damage to your home.

Check the windows for drafts – This simple job can save you money down the road during a season notorious for taking it. A simple way to check for drafts or broken seals around windows is to grab a friend and have them walk around on the inside with a candle, while you follow on the outside with a hair dryer blowing at the edge of the windows. If the candle flickers you know that you have a break in the seal around your window. Now all you need to do is replace the cracked caulking, maybe the weather stripping as well and away you go.

Flip the switch on your ceiling fans – Most modern ceiling fans have a small switch on the side for reversing the direction that the blades spin. By flipping this switch the blades will now be pushing the hot air down towards the ground keeping the living area of your home from losing all of that precious heat.

Turn off and drain exterior hoses and bibs- This is important to maintaining your home during the cold winter months and it only takes a few minutes to do. Water left in hoses and bibs will freeze when the temperature starts to drop causing your hose to get ruined or worse the bibs and pipes to crack creating a much bigger problem.

Get the snow off of the roof- Once that fluffy white stuff begins falling a whole new list of jobs start to roll in. Just as important as keeping your sidewalks and pathways free of snow, is keeping it off the roof. Snow and ice buildups on the roof lead to a number of issues to the home. Ice dams can form at the edge of your roof preventing water from draining and instead can push back up and into the wall of your home.

Bundle up and stay warm – This is more of a money saving tip than a home maintenance tip but if you reduce your thermostat by just one degree you can save an average of 2% off of your energy bill.

Check back often for more tip and tricks to help you keep your home operating at its peak performance. If peak performance isn't cutting it anymore and you’re look for a change, give us a call. Wallmark Homes has been a top custom home builder in Vancouver and the Greater Vancouver area for over 25 years and we would love to hear from you.