Give Your Home a Flu Shot

When you get your yearly Flu shot, you are in essence getting a little bit of the Flu to keep from getting a lot of Flu later. Home maintenance is a vaccination for your home in that you spend a little money now to keep from spending a great deal later. Some items in your home demand yearly maintenance, and to keep your home from needing some serious care, you need to be sure these winter maintenance items are checked before winter hits.

Change Your Furnace Filter—If your heating unit has a filter, it needs to be changed once a year at minimum. When these filters get dirty, your heater uses more energy to put out the same amount of heat, which not only costs more but it also shortens the life of your unit. Filters are not expensive, but they allow a very expensive machine to endure.

Winterize Sprinklers/Hoses/Faucets—Winterization is basically the removal of water so that it won't freeze and crack pipes. In most areas of the country, winterizing sprinklers costs less than $75, but it can be thousands for a new system. You also need to roll up and drain any water hoses and shut off the water to outdoor faucets.

Clean & Inspect Chimney—Chimneys build up creosote, which is highly flammable and can cause roaring chimney fires if not cleaned regularly. A chimney cleaning will protect you from this. Have an inspection (these often come free with a cleaning) while your chimney sweep is there and determine if any other problems are lurking in your chimney.

Roof Problems—If snow melts too quickly from your roof, you might be in danger of ice dams. Ice dams can not only take down your gutters, but also part of your roof. Inadequate attic insulation is likely to blame. Heat rises, and improper attic insulation will let it rise into your attic and heat your roof. Adding insulation is a very cost effective venture. It doesn't need to be done every year, but at least every six to keep warm.

The Big Concept
Prevention does cost money, but it costs way less than the cure. The amount of money you need to spend on winter maintenance to protect your home from serious illness is very minor compared to the cost of having to replace something before it is ready to go.