How to Prepare Your Home's Exterior For Fall/Winter

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By Linda McCloud
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House

Winter is fast approaching in many parts of the country. That means we all need to get outside and look at our homes. Plus, if at all possible, we need to send someone on top of our home or go on top it ourselves, to inspect the top of our home. We need to look for the little things that need to be fixed now before those cold winds begin to blow and possibly cause damage to our home. By spending a little bit of time and money now, we may be saving ourselves a lot of headaches and a lot of money later this weekend.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Start with the easy job, walking around the home. You could start with the foundation. Begin looking for signs of water damage, cracks or even pest problems. Fix anything you find now before the damage becomes bigger.
Step 2

Examine the siding for mildew. You need to at least brush it off from the home. If the mildew is excessive you should also wash the area after brushing it off of the siding. Be sure to add a cleaner to your water that will actually kill mildew. Watch about using plain bleach. If you put it on to heavily it can leave yellowish marks on your siding. If you wish to use an environmentally friendly cleaner, check on some of the products made by BIOWASH. If your home is made from wood and doesn't have siding, look for areas in which your paint is peeling, bubbling or cracking. If you find these problems, you should have at least that area of the home repainted, if not the entire house.
Step 3

Finally, get up on the roof or have someone get up on your roof. The shingles needs to be inspected. You need to look for loose shingles or damaged shingles. Fix any problems that you find. If you have an attic, check it for leaks. If you have attic vents inspect them as well. You should also check to see if there looks like there are any water leakage problems anywhere on top of your roof. Great places to check are: areas where roofing materials meets up with flashing, any areas where another roof meets, around the gutters, around the bottom area of the roof, around chimneys or sunroofs. Who ever is on top of the roof should be careful and should try to walk on it as little as is needed. The more one walks on their roof, the more chance that damage can occur.
Step 4

Shut off any and all outside faucets. You should also insulate these to keep these from freezing during the winter.
Step 5

Finally, check any trees that are growing near the house. Trim back any branches that could fall off onto the home.