If you don’t take measures to prepare your foundation for winter, you might be in for a lot of surprises you don’t want. A few easy steps can make your foundation and your whole home much more secure against extreme weather.
For those who experience a really cold winter, you know your home’s foundation can take a beating. The cold and then sudden thaw makes matters even worse.
Prepare Your Foundation for Winter with These Tips
The last thing you need in the middle of a cold snap is a problem with your home or the foundation.
Get An Inspection
Call in a professional to check out your foundation, your roof, gutter, and drainage system, and make sure everything is in great shape. The summer months can take a toll on your home, so it’s best to be prepared.
They can spot any problems you have or may have down the road. Now is the time to know about any concerns there are and get the repairs done before the temperatures drop.
Clean Your Gutters
A lot can happen over the summer months. Prepare your foundation for winter by cleaning out your gutters and making sure they are also ready for winter. Leaves, nests, garbage, and other debris can be sitting in there clogging the water flow.
If you are not comfortable climbing up there, call a service to do it for you. They can clean the gutters and spot any problems you might encounter like leaks, broken gutters, or missing parts.
Waterproof Your Basement
Getting your basement ready against a flood or leaks is a smart way to prepare your foundation for winter. Waterproofing your basement can involve having a sealant applied to keep all the small cracks or holes from allowing water in.
It can also involve sealing up cracks or getting a few repairs completed on damaged areas. Sealing around windows, interior, and exterior coatings, and even checking or installing a sump pump.
Check Your HVAC System
Your heater, water heater, and your pipes can all be affected during the deep freeze of winter. Make sure there are no problems with your pipes and other parts you are going to rely on for the cold months.
Broken pipes will make a terrible mess at any time, but if they burst in the winter, they will freeze everything. If a pipe bursts while you are away, you are going to come home to a big mess.
Insulation
Making sure your insulation is working is a great way to prepare your foundation for winter. Proper insulation keeps the heat in and the cold out. It makes a big difference on your energy use and bill, as well.
This will also help keep your pipes from leaking or freezing and then bursting. It will also prevent any small cracks you may have in your foundation from freezing with moisture inside them.
Outside Plumbing
Insulating the outside plumbing will help keep your foundation safe. The outside faucets can cause a leak behind the wall and do a lot of damage to the plumbing.
Shut off all the faucets and make sure the pipes are completely drained. Remove the hoses and if possible, shut off the water supply to the outside faucets. You can also insulate them by covering them up.
Prepare Your Foundation for Winter
Everything you can do to protect your foundation from the harsh winter will keep it safe and strong. Call us at Olson Foundation Repair for more tips or to schedule a service call today.