- Treasure Valley Home Inspectors give five tips for Winter home prep
- Have sprinklers professionally blown out, unhook hoses from hose bibs, turn off the power supply to AC units, clean out gutters and close crawl space vents
As the weather goes from fall to winter, you’re raking up some of the last batch of leaves. I’m your neighborhood reporter Jessica Davis reporting in West Boise, and in addition to some yard work, there are a few things around the outside of your house that you can do ahead of the winter weather.
“As home inspectors here locally we see a lot of different things' I'd say when it comes to winter we see a lot of things that happened that could've been prevented so much as cleaning out the gutter or having home inspectors like us check your crawl space for water,” says Logan Kimball.
Logan Kimball is a home inspector with Treasure Valley Home Inspectors. As the weather transitions from fall to winter he shares five tips to make you feel safe and protected from the elements.
“First thing would be to have your sprinkler professionally blown out to keep our lines clear and prevent them from freezing. The second thing would be to unhook your hoses from the hose bibs and if you can replace them with an insulated hose bib cover,” says Kimball.
Along with unhooking your hoses, you want to turn off the power supply to your air conditioner and cover the unit to keep it free from debris.
He continues, “Two last things would be number one clean out your gutters, we love the leaves in the city of trees but if we don't clean out the gutters then when the snow eventually melts it doesn't have anywhere to run off to.”
Avoiding cleaning your gutters can lead to costly ice dams forming on your roof. The last tip is simple, close your crawl space vents.
“Just to pull those vents closed for the winter to help prevent that cold weather from going underneath your house where you have plumbing and other energy-efficient components that you want to keep your house warm.”
Kimball says preventing costly damage is very easy and if it's not done right you could be looking at thousands of dollars worth of repairs. So before it's too late, make sure you follow these tips to help you this winter.
