Fall Has Arrived: Time To Prepare For Winter

Now that fall is here it's going to start getting colder as winter arrives. So, now is the time to winterize your home while the weather is still nice.

Depending on where you live in the U.S., getting your home and property ready for the extremes of winter weather can be an annual challenge for homeowners.

For many of us, winter means snow, sleet, ice, blizzards and hail. It can be harsh on our homes, our cars, and our yards, while other residents living the the more temperate regions have little more to deal with than rain and an occasional freeze.

Yet, even in those milder areas, the winter season can take a toll nonetheless.

Many people take advantage of the fall weather to clean up their yards and other outdoor spaces, and pile up any old junk items to be hauled away with the yard debris. And depending on the climate, some folks use that time to prepare their homes for winter.

While this may be a bit of a chore, there are a number of good reasons to "winterize" your home.

For example, according to the Farmers’ Almanac 2022-2023 Extended Weather Forecast:

"Got flannel? Hot chocolate? Snowshoes? It’s time to stock up! According to our extended forecasts, this winter season will have plenty of snow, rain, and mush—as well as some record-breaking cold temperatures! We are warning readers to get ready to “Shake, shiver, and shovel!“

The first bite of winter should come earlier than last year’s. December 2022 looks stormy and cold nationwide with an active storm pattern developing and hanging around for most of the season over the eastern half of the country."

And in many parts of the country, the end of summer has brought both record heat and drought along with unseasonable cold and rain. 

Winterizing Your Home Saves Money

In addition to taking advantage of the pre-winter weather to declutter and organize your home, it pays to take time this fall to winterize your house.

Among other benefits, winterizing provides protection for your home, helps prevent costly repairs and high energy bills, and can make your winters far more enjoyable and comfortable. Timely and proper winterization of your home not only keeps the cold out, but it also protects your structure from potential damage that can be caused by harsh temperatures, as well as freezing rain, snow, and sleet. 

A common question among homeowners, especially first-time owners or owners new to a place with different weather than they're accustomed to, is "When should I start winterizing my house?"

And the easy answer is to start winterizing before the winter weather arrives.

In many regions across the country this is critical since a broken furnace or frozen pipes are far more difficult to repair or replace in the bitter cold or snow. Of course, proper winterization of your home can help prevent many cold weather hazards, having the right home insurance policy can add another level of protection for your home all year-round.

By the way, another cost savings benefit of winterizing your home is that making sure your home is properly prepared can also help you avoid filing a claim, which means you'll keep monthly insurance premium more affordable.

Tips and Tasks for Winter Weather Preparation

By replacing or repairing insulation around doors, windows, and other openings you can help reduce your heating costs. Properly protecting exposed plumbing (e.g. exterior water pipes) will not only help prevent ruptured pipes, but will help keep the water flowing in your home.

Cleaning and repairing gutters will go a long ways to extending their useful lives and help prevent issues during the worst of the winter weather.

There are several other tasks that you can do to winterize your home's interior, as well, that can add up to huge savings in energy bills while preventing costly repair bills later on. What you need to do really does depend a great deal on where your home is located and the types of winter weather extremes you typically experience.

Here is a handy checklist of nine steps you can take to winterize your home:

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When to DIY and When to Call in the Pros

The good news is, if you are inclined towards a DIY approach, much of your winterizing tasks are things that can be done fairly easily yourself.

However, there a few tasks, such as cleaning and inspecting your roof or cleaning your chimney, for example, that are best left to a professional.

Think of this as an investment as opposed to an expense. The convenience and assurance of knowing that these tasks are done properly are worth it. Not to mention much safer than being up there by yourself.

And, if you've gone through your property and cleaned up all the debris from pruning, trimming, mowing, raking and so on, you're likely to have some large piles of junk and debris to get rid of. In addition, anything you've decided to clear out and dispose of from your basement, attic, or garage will need to go to.

You could do all of this junk hauling and disposal yourself, but this usually requires a truck and possibly some extra hands. In addition, you will need to pay for gas, for landfill or transfer station disposal fees. And there is always the possibility that you may not be able to dispose of everything you need to get rid of at your local landfill.

No worries! The good news is that hiring a professional firm is a great option when it comes to all of your junk hauling needs.

Who Should You Call for Junk Hauling?

Once you decide to outsource the junk hauling part of your winterizing project, you need to determine which firm is the right one for the job. And while you can certainly find plenty of guys with trucks willing to do the job, choosing that alternative may end up costing you more than you hoped to save. This is why Junk King really is the firm of choice.

Junk King provides an efficient, safe and eco-friendly waste disposal service so you don’t need to worry about the pick up or disposal of the debris after your project is complete. Whether you need our services several times during a project or just once after it is complete, our hauling professionals will ensure that the debris is out of your way so that you can get on with the job.

Our team specializes in commercial and residential junk removal. We can be at your home in mere minutes, so call us today! Our crew is fully insured and well-trained, so you can trust them to get rid of your unwanted items in a professional and courteous fashion.

One of the best things about hiring Junk King is that we recycle a much of the material we pick-up. This is proof of our commitment to being an eco-friendly removal service. If you have questions about what we do or what we believe, give us a call at 1-888-888-JUNK (5865).