Winter Maintenance Suggestions To Safeguard Your Property
Whether you’re letting or living in your home, maintenance can be a pain to deal with and not very exciting. More work especially if you do it yourself, but property is most likely your biggest investment, and you want to protect it. Cold wintry nights bring with them; Jack Frost trying to bite chunks out of your pipes, the wind stealing tiles from your roof and heavy rain and sometimes snow bringing the potential of floods. While you can’t stop nature, you can certainly protect against it with the right winter maintenance plan. So, what can you do to help keep your property safe against the assaults of winter?
Pipes
During the winter your pipes are going to get a lot of use. Repeated heating and cooling combined with a vicious frost can cause cracking. An easy step to take is to carry out a visual inspection, particularly of any external pipes. Make sure they are insulated to protect them and potentially your bank balance from any large bills.
Roof
Run your eyes (do this from the ground) along the roof, check if there are any missing tiles, and make sure the gutters are in working order and draining and not creating an expensive and damaging pool up on the roof!
Boiler and Radiators
Check the boiler, make sure it’s serviced annually. Bleed the radiators, the more efficiently they work, the better it will be for your heating bill.
Wood Burners and Stoves
If you are lucky enough to own a wood burner, make sure the chimney is clear and it’s all in good working order. When did it last have a service? This will keep the heat flowing efficiently and safely.
Draughts
Do any internal doors need adjusting or replacing due to the hot and cold cycle of the seasons? Is there a draught coming from the seals around the fireplace? Or is there a draught coming from somewhere else?
Insulation
It could be there is a draught coming from the attic. One reason why is that you need to insulate your attic. For a messy job, make sure you are wearing protective clothing and a mask, but do not take on a job requiring skilled tradesmen. Better insulation will enable you to save massively on your heating bill.
Salt and Shovels
If you have a lot of exposed concrete paving or tarmac make sure you dig out your shovel, sand or salt so you can be prepared for snow and ice.
Stock up
Build up your reserves of wood, or whichever fuels you burn on the fire.
Smoke Alarms and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
With so many fuels and energy sources in use, make sure your warning alarms are in good working order. One minute of your time to check the batteries is always time well spent.
Insurance
Check your policy. If the winter is going to be particularly bad with storms, ice, snow or floods then use it as a reminder to check in fine detail what you are covered for. Some policies might not cover for wind for example and the finer detail may state that only a certain amount of compensation is paid in the event of damage.
Remember, if you spend a lot of time away for work or in a partner’s house, to adjust your policy accordingly as the house could be classified as unoccupied, even if it’s only for a certain period of time.
Now That You Are Protected, Relax
If you ready your property for winter, hopefully you will never have to use your insurance. But if the worst happens, you can sleep soundly at night knowing you are protected not just by bricks and mortar!
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