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Winter Home Disasters to Avoid

Winter can be tough, extreme temperatures take their toll on our homes. To make matters worse, that time isn’t as far away as many of us might like to believe. Already, we’re turning our lights on earlier and shutting the windows to avoid the morning chill. While fall is officially still a month away, our attentions are shifting toward cold-weather survival. And, our homes come top of that list.



If you’re to stand any chance at creating the warm and cozy winter home of your dreams, then it’s vital you take certain steps towards the goal now. Winter home maintenance is essential for any homeowner. Failure to get around to it this year could see you waking up to any of the following winter morning tragedies.

Burst pipes


Burst pipes are the most common winter disaster of all. They also cause the largest inconvenience during cold weather. Without pipes, after all, you can’t take warm baths. You may also end up with freezing water all over your floor. The solution is to consider preventative measures now. Proper insulation around water pipes is a must. You may also want to invest in solutions for extra heat like the pipe warming wire offered by Heat-Line. Without these small steps, water in your pipes will surely freeze, expand, and ultimately burst out. That’s no way to a warm winter home!

Collapsing gutters




Gutters, too, are prime places for ice-related disaster. As well as stopping healthy drainage, ice can collapse your gutters if you aren’t careful. Think about it; ice is pretty heavy stuff, and ice dams can weigh things down even more. Before you know, then, you could step out to find your guttering all over the floor at a time of year when no one in their right mind will want to replace it. Luckily, avoiding this issue is often as simple as cleaning gutters in advance of the winter chill. That way, water can flow freely and shouldn’t have time to build into heavy ice blocks.

Fire in the hole


As soon as the cold weather rolls around, you’ll probably want to light the fire for cozy evenings moving forward. Sadly, winter is the prime time for chimney fires. That’s not surprising considering many homeowners light right up after a long winter of not even thinking about their chimneys. If you’re one of them, you could end up with a fire that’s out of action at a time where chimney professionals are busier than ever. Instead, avoid this issue altogether by booking in for a chimney sweep now. That way, you can light up without once worrying, and enjoy the gentle flicker of those flames as soon as the weather turns.



Image Source - CC0 License

Winter home disasters are awful indeed, but as you can see, avoiding them isn’t all that difficult. Make sure, then, that you do what you can now to make sure you don’t have to clean up a mess when there’s a chill in the air.

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  1. Thank you for sharing these tips. I have to start working on my list of things I need to get done around the house.

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  2. Eek, not fun. I'm in Texas so it never gets super cold, but it will dip below freezing at times, so we have to be careful with the pipes!

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  3. Since I live in Central Florida, I don't have to worry about winter troubles from weather. Just hurricanes brewing out at sea.

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    1. Tammy, I am praying for your safety!

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  4. We live in an area of the country that does not get snow, but we still have to prepare for colder temperatures. I always make sure our pipes are wrapped before Thanksgiving rolls around.

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  5. We get snow so these are helpful to remember. But right now I'm sweating in the humidity lol

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  6. Eileen M Loya5:15 PM

    It does not snow where I live, but we have to deal with lots and lots of rain. We do make sure we clean the gutters and check if there are leaks in the roof. Better to address these issues before they get worse.

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  7. Winter can be a dangerous season, especially around Christmas time. It doesn't snow often but occasionally we have ice storms. Hopefully, we don't have anything too crazy this year since my kids don't work close anymore. I worry about them driving in in-climate weather. We are close to the school thankfully.

    Since I have mobility issues, I'm kinda concerned about having a deck. The last thing I want to do is fall so I will have to make sure that I keep some deicer on hand since I have dogs that have to go out no matter what to potty.

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  8. You have great lists of tips! Actually, in my country, we do not have the winter season but I will keep these in mind your helpful tips!

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  9. We are lucky not have winter here. But we still need to check on those areas to avoid accidents. Great tips!

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  10. We have some pretty rough winters here in the Northeast. These are all good things to keep in mind. Our furnace died last winter, and it was no joke. We were able to repair it on our own with help from a family member, but repairs can be ridiculously costly during the dead of winter!

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  11. Burst pipes suck big time! These are some great items to consider. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. These are great things to thing about! Thank you for sharing this! I saw this other list on thisDelta Wasatch Front blog that has 5 reasons to winterize correctly. Sooo important, thanks for sharing!

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