As the cold weather approaches, it's a good idea to do some home maintenance, particularly if you have an older house. Preventative maintenance can stop rain and cold air coming in the house, leading to lower repair bills and lower heating costs this winter. Here are some jobs you should consider doing.
Check the sealant around the windows
The sealant that helps keep the glass firmly in place in the window frame in wooden framed windows can become stiff and crack off over time. It's a good idea to check these seals visually with winter approaching, and if you suspect one of the seals is not sealing you can test with a leak seal smoke kit. These kits allow you to blow coloured smoke around the window and check if any makes it through the other side, which is a sign you have a leak. This is relatively easy to repair as you can chip away the old sealant and replace with new sealant from the hardware store.
Check the gutters
Another good idea is to get out the ladder and check that your gutters are free of leaves, twigs and fruit from overhanging trees. Particularly if these objects stay in situ for a while, they can break down and form sticky clumps that can stop water from flowing to the down pipes. This can result in water backing up over the gutters and bursting the gutter or causing roof leaks. If this is a common issue at your house, you can try placing a gutter guard over the gutter once you've cleaned it, creating a water permeable cover that stops leaves and twigs from getting lodged in the guttering.
Look for Loose roofing
While you are up on the ladder, it's a good idea to look at the roof at check that no roof tiles have dislodged or sheets of roofing come unstuck. You may not notice this happening during summer but this can lead to significant water leaks in the roof space during storms or rainy weather. These repairs can be a little more challenging and it's often a good idea to involve a roofing contractor to get the repairs carried out.
By doing some home maintenance early in the winter, you can often save yourself money and stress by avoiding costly repairs later on. If you don't have the time or confidence to do these jobs yourself, you call a home handyman service to come out and get all the jobs done at once.
Share31 May 2016
I really want a cool old fixie like some of the people at my university have, but they are actually more expensive than I had first thought. Then I was going through the shed at home, and I found a really old rusted bike my dad used to use. The bike needed a lot of work, so it's been a project for the last few months to get it working properly and get it looking great again. This blog has all of the repair and restoration steps that I have used, and pictures of my progress as the project progressed.
