Original Article Posted here: https://www.readersdigest.ca/home-garden/home-improvement/winter-proof-your-house/
By Andre Mayer, Reader’s Digest Canada
It’s never too early in the season to start thinking about how you’ll winter-proof your house. These expert tips will help protect your key asset from the ravages of ice, snow and freezing temperatures.
1. Check your roof and eavestroughs
Managing water flow is a top priority to winter-proof your house for freezing temperatures. Within the gutters and downspouts, minimize places where liquid can freeze and expand to create leaks, says Ryan Reynolds, of Reynolds Brothers Exteriors in Barrie/Simcoe County, Ont. That also means securing shingles.
2. Shut off your outside water supply
Water expansion can wreak havoc on pipes. To prevent them from bursting, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) suggests shutting off the water supply to your outside tap by October.
3. Trim vegetation
Prune greenery so that nothing touches the walls, says Erich Kelter, a home inspector based in Barrie, Ont. Wet leaves and branches brushing up against your house can erode brick and degrade siding.
Check out these 5 Great Ways to Bring Your Garden Indoors for Winter!
4. Clean your furnace
Another important task when you winter-proof your house is thinking about the heat you’ll be using. To ensure your furnace is working at maximum efficiency, the CMHC suggests having it serviced and changing or cleaning the filter in November.
5. Plug indoor gaps
Keeping heat inside your home means identifying drafts that are entering through doors, windows or trim. Kelter says you can detect air leaks by going around the house with a smoke pencil, a hand-held device that releases smoke to indicate drafty spots. To fill the gaps, try caulking, spray foam or weatherstripping.
Check out 5 More Home Maintenance Tips for Winter!
