How to Summer Proof Your Home

With summer coming on there are some things you can do to your home to get it ready. Everything from reducing the lost of cold air to dealing with bugs to being prepared for the kids to come thru the house wet from the pool. Some of these are easy to do's while others you may want to look into a professional or handyman to help.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Keep your AC cooling in the house and the hot air out. Get up on the roof (or have someone who can) and check around your AC unit or swamp cooler. Feel any cool air coming out of the cracks? If so you need to fill in those cracks. You can use tar or rubber to do it your self, or you can hire a handyman or roofing professional.

2. Another option to help keep the inside air cool is to install vents on your roof that will allow the air that heats up in your attic or crawl space to be released. If you do not feel confident with properly installing the vents yourself then have a professional roofer install them.

3. 
    
   Keep bugs out.

   Bugs. Even if your house is spotless the bugs will be attracted to the cool air inside. Examine your house and make sure you don't have cracks or gaps around windows or doors that will make it easy for the bugs to get in. Fixing these will also help keep the cool air inside. Use an insecticide around the outside perimeter of your house and windows. There are many none chemical options too if you have pets or kids that will get into it.

4. Windows. Keep blinds and curtains closed. This will help you with keeping the hot air outside. You can opt for tinting your windows or even installing double pane windows which can save on cooling costs up to 38%. There are also curtains available that are designed to help keep the heat from coming thru the window. Look for these in the home section of your local retail or home improvement store.

5. 
    
   Water your lawn during prime times

   Lawn maintenance. If you have a sprinkler system then set the timer to go off during the night. This will optimize your water usage and you won't have to use as much water. This also goes if you water your lawn by hand. Try watering it late in the evening or at night.

6. 
    

   Have kids? Expect them to come through the house sweaty, dirty and possibly wet from playing outside. To help reduce the dirt traffic place door mats both on the outside and inside of the doors. You can try to implement a 'shoes off in the house' policy too. Be sure and have lots of water, juices and ice pops on hand for them to help keep them hydrated.

7. 
    

   Have a pool? Expect wet people and kids in your house. Set up a towel rack near your door so they will always have access to a dry towel before entering and encourage them to put the towel back on the rack so they can drip dry outside instead of you your floor. The 3 main reasons a person will come inside from the pool is the bathroom, drinks and food. If possible place a cooler or mini fridge outside or just inside the door full of drinks and snacks. This will help to prevent puddles in your kitchen. Be sure and place mats in the bathrooms and at your doors to help with the water too.

8. 
    
   Pet's need attention too.

   Have pets? If you have an outside pet look into getting a larger than normal water bowl for them. Keep it out of the sun so it doesn't get to hot. Also provide a shady place for them to get out of the heat and sun too. Some pets, mostly dogs, can have their fur trimmed or shaved to help keep them cooler. If you don't have a pool or don't want your pet in the main pool try getting them one of the smaller child size pools for around $20 so they can get wet and stay cool too.

Resources

• eHow Home and Garden Topic Guide.

[godfather25]

on 7/24/2009 Excellent tips on summer proofing your home.

[gahazeleyes]

on 6/12/2009 Thanks for sharing.