It’s that time of year again, you can feel a little nip in the morning air and the first frost is right around the corner. A few things should be done around your to help get your Parry Custom Home ready for winter.
Drain your outdoor hoses; insulate any outdoor plumbing and shutting off any water to outside pipes. If you will be gone from your home for any length of time, make sure your house temperature doesn’t go below 55 degrees to avoid any problems with your homes interior pipes.
Put away lawnmowers for the winter. It is best to drain any gas out of the tank and clean it up to be ready again for spring. This would also be a good time to make sure the snow blower is in working order and make sure that you have plenty of salt, sand and that you have a shovel on hand. Plenty of new Parry homeowners find themselves in the middle of winter and all of sudden remember that they haven’t purchased a shovel for their new Parry Home yet.
Check out your gutters to make sure that they are free of leaves. If water cannot properly flow from the gutter ice can build up inside which can cause the gutter to pull away from your home. If you find that you have a lot of leaves in your gutters, you may want to consider leaf guards. Don’t forget to check the down spouts also that debris has not built up during the summer and has blocked them from draining.
Have your furnace inspected by a service professional. Make sure that you have furnace filters and change them as needed. Change your ducts and vents from the summer positions to winter. You may not need as much heat going upstairs since heat rises and you want to heat your Parry Home more evenly from bottom to top.
Make sure you have your chimney inspected and in that it is in good condition. A professional chimney sweep can remove soot and creosote buildup that can become dangerous over time. You will also want to make sure that you remember to open the fireplace damper before you build a fire to keep smoke from backing into your Parry Home, now you are ready to gather your family in front of the first fire of the season and enjoy the warmth of the fire.
There you have it! Just these few check ups will have you and your family prepared for the colder days ahead here in Pittsburgh.
Parry Custom Homes is an established home builder in the Pittsburgh area. For additional information about our services, call (724) 863-0199.