Home Maintenance Tips

Plan for home safety
A few simple precautions — such as illuminating the area around your house, locking doors and windows, and trimming hedges — can go a long way toward keeping your home safe. With night falling before many get home from work, it pays to be extra safety-conscious.

Make space for winter coats, boots and scarves
With winter weather comes bulky coats, boots and all sorts of mittens and scarves that seem to multiply when you’re not looking. Clear out the closet nearest your main entrance to make room for those extra winter layers, or supplement a hall with coat hooks and a boot tray. If you have no style or vision of a space like me, get in touch Lacey Rollins with Home on the Gully to help you design your winter work space in your mudroom or garage!

Get ready for winter storms
 Check the condition of your shovels, gloves and window scrapers, and replace as needed. Store snowy-weather supplies near the door where you can access them easily during a storm, and mark the sides of your driveway and other key places with reflective poles, to help the snow plowers see where to go. Keeping the pantry stocked with food, bottled water, candles and flashlights in case of power outages is always a good idea.
 
Protect Indoor Pipes
According to Home Advisor, a burst pipe can cost $500 to repair and can cause as much as $3,000 in additional damage. Pipe insulation, which you can install yourself around any exposed copper or PVC water pipe, costs as little as 50 cents per linear foot. Use it under sinks, in attics and crawl spaces, and on pipes along exterior walls. Pay special attention to basements, where 37 percent of all burst pipes occur.

Insulate Your Attic or Crawl Space
Spending money to insulate your attic—exactly how much insulation you need varies by temperatures in your region—will save you money in the long run in two ways. You’ll keep your home’s heat out of the attic and in living quarters, where it belongs, and by keeping the attic cooler, you may prevent damaging ice dams from forming on your roof.