Make your Billings Home Winter Ready with Liz Francis

#1: Plumbing

-Make sure to drain water from your outdoor faucets or garden hoses. Also arrange to have any in-ground sprinkler pipes blown out. For extreme measures you could also wrap pipes with heat tape to keep them extra warm, ensuring no pipes freeze over the winter.

-Also make sure everyone in the house knows how to turn off water at the source so if pipes do burst the leaking is minimized.

-Have a working fireplace? Ensure it’s cleaned out and inspected by a professional before the first frost.

-Vacuum out all vents out and other heating components.

-Replace your furnace filter.

-Double check all windows and doors for cracks or openings.

- Add or replace worn weather stripping around doors and windows. Add caulk to any gaps if need be.

-Don’t forget your basement- check for all nooks, cranny’s, and cracks to seal.

#4: Clean Up:

-Clean out your gutters

-Check out your roof, make sure there are no repairs needed or shingles missing

-Divert water from your house, move around your downspouts from your gutters 3 -5 feet away from the house

#5 Landscape Prep:

-Unless you’re highly nostalgic on raking leaves. . . mulching your leaves with your lawn mower actually helps to nourish your lawn over winter as they decompose. Easier & less time consuming is a high bonus!

-Speaking of lawn mowers… make sure to add stabilizer to your fuel to keep it fresh long. When you don’t do this the fuel tends to decompose “varnishing” the carburetor and causing difficulty when you try to start the engine in the spring.

-Restock winter essentials: Salt, Ice Melt, snow blowers, shovels, boots, and winter clothing!