As winter approaches, stormy weather and cold conditions can cause damage to your home. Here are a few simple things you can do to prepare your house for winter.
Clear Gutters
Remove falling leaves and cut back creepers that are in your gutters so that water cannot build up and run down your walls, causing damp to creep inside your brickwork. Check that gutters and downpipes are still attached strongly to your house so that if winds pick up they don’t pull away and cause damage.
Check Trees
Look out for dead branches and signs that trees near your house may be rotting, because in strong winter winds parts of or even a whole tree being blown down could cause serious damage to your house. Call in a tree-surgeon to cut back any damaged branches and consult them about any large trees close to your house.
Prevent Damp
Close the door to the kitchen while you’re cooking so that steam and warm air do not enter colder rooms and settle on walls and windows, causing mould and damp. Dry your clothes outside on windy days, and open windows in bathrooms and washing areas after using them to let a breeze clear steam away.
Lag Your Pipes
Put insulation on any outside pipes to prevent them freezing and bursting in the cold temperatures. Confused.com gives some simple tips to help you prevent pipes bursting and know what to do if they freeze or burst.
Service Your Boiler
Annual servicing for your boiler will pick up any repairs that need to be made before they become a big problem and will also provide you with tips on how to best use your boiler in the colder months.
Find Gloucester boiler servicing experts such as HPR to help you look at the whole heating system, including bleeding radiators and repairing boilers. See http://www.hprservicesltd.com/gloucester-boilers/boiler-servicing-gloucester/ for more information.
Check Your Home Insurance
If the worst happens and something goes wrong in your home, make sure you have your home insurance details easily at hand so that you can make a claim and get the problem fixed swiftly.
With these tips you should be able to prevent a good number of problems occurring in your home in winter and know who to call to deal with problems if they do arise.