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In this video, I go over tips to winterproof your home.
Check them out here
M-D Building Door Sweep - https://geni.us/ynAj0RD
3M Indoor Window Insulator Kit - https://geni.us/U9I2mnT
Duck Max Strength Window Film - https://geni.us/Hp9tqXH
Great Stuff Window & Door Foam - https://geni.us/pIzpNWL
Frost King Socket and Outlet Sealers - https://geni.us/vTCFcPX
Armacell Tundra Pipe Insulation - https://howl.link/brmhdowc39mzp
EasyHeat Heat Cable - https://geni.us/Ai6qQBI
Woodford Frost-Free Sillcock - https://geni.us/MgAuFL
Prier Frost-Free Faucet - https://geni.us/fNRf
Owens Corning AttiCat Blown-In Fiberglass - https://shoplowes.me/4h2KDoE
Greenfiber Blown-In Cellulose Insulation - https://howl.link/gcr5mulsgacpb
Amerimax Flex-A-Spout Downspout Extension - https://howl.link/ykijvkh7b0prx
Avalanche Roof Rake - https://geni.us/7fRKC
Snow Joe Roof Rake - https://howl.link/y9hwa0dqrkkgd
Filtrete MPR 1900 Furnace Filter - https://geni.us/cFXAl8
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0:00
The average American household spent nearly $1,000 last winter in heating and that number is expected to go up
0:06
But the worst part is that a huge chunk of what you're paying for is never actually warming you
0:11
It's heating the gap under your front door, it's escaping through the single pane window in your guest room
0:16
and it's even leaking through the attic that hasn't been touched since your house was built
0:20
So before your next bill arrives, let's fix that by winterproofing your home
0:26
Start by checking the bottom of your exterior doors. Any gap there means a draft
0:31
And that draft makes you feel cold even in a room that's already warm. And the colder you feel, the more you crank the heat
0:37
So every gap you close is money you stop burning all winter. And for that, you need a simple door sweep
0:42
It's a slim aluminum strip with a vinyl fin along the bottom. And once it's mounted, that fin presses down against its rest hold and blocks the gap across the whole width of the door
0:52
Just make sure you pick one that suits your gap. The regular single fin works for most modern doors, but if yours is older or has a bigger space at the bottom, then choose a heavier double fin instead
1:02
And there's plenty of options here, but I'd go with the MD Building Products one since it's more durable and it seals really well
1:09
And I'll leave a link below so you can check it out yourself. But whichever one you grab, get a length you can cut down and set the height so it just kisses the floor without dragging
1:17
After that, check the seal around the door frame. On older houses, it's often flattened or torn right where the draft comes through
1:23
And a simple roll of self-adhesive weather stripping will fix that with just a few dollars
1:28
It bends with a door as it opens and closes, and it seals the edges the old strips stopped covering
1:35
For drafty single-pane windows, a window insulation film kit makes a big difference
1:40
You tape the clear sheet around the frame, stretch it flat, and warm it with a hairdryer until it shrinks tight and disappears
1:47
And I tend to prefer the thicker indoor films from 3M because they hold up better to everyday wear
1:51
Roll style kits such as Duck Max Strength are also convenient especially for larger projects
1:56
since you can cut only what you need instead of measuring every piece from scratch
2:01
Just keep in mind that this is a temporary solution and should be removed once it's time to open the windows again
2:06
But a lot of window drafts aren coming from the glass at all they coming from behind the trim And builders often fill the gaps with loose fiberglass which look like insulation but barely stops moving air And here how you shut it down
2:18
Pop off the interior casing, find a gap, and then fill it with spray foam
2:22
But it has to be the window and door kind, which is low expansion
2:26
The regular high expansion stuff keeps swelling after you spray it and can press on the frame
2:30
hard enough to bind the window shut. Great Stuff Window and Door is the product most people trust for this job, so you can
2:36
safely add it to your wishlist. Next, go after the leaks you can't see
2:42
And the sneakiest ones are hiding behind your outlet and switch covers. Now this sounds ridiculous, but in older homes, especially solid brick or in a place with empty
2:51
wall cavities, wind blows into the wall and finds its way around your electrical boxes
2:56
So what you have here are foam outlet sealers. And for this, I'd grab Frost King's kit
3:00
And it's sold in multi-packs, so one box does the whole job
3:06
Now when water in a pipe freezes, it expands and has nowhere to go, so pressure builds until
3:10
the pipe cracks. Now the scary part is that it doesn't leak while everything is still frozen
3:15
The real flood starts later, when the ice melts and water begins flowing again, often
3:20
inside a wall or ceiling before anyone sees it. And to prevent it, all you really have to do is stop the pipe from getting cold enough
3:26
to freeze, and the simplest way is to wrap it up so it holds its warmth
3:30
Foam pipe sleeves are made for this exact job, but when you buy them, there's two kinds
3:35
things to get right. First is the size because the sleeve has to match the thickness of your pipe
3:39
so make sure you measure it first. And second is to look for the self-sealing kind, where the slit
3:45
already has an adhesive strip under a peel away cover. This way you just press the two edges
3:49
together and they stay shut on their own instead of you taping the whole run by hand. And the
3:53
product handling this nicely is Armiselle Tundra. Just keep in mind that you don't need to wrap every
3:58
pipe in your house, only the ones at risk of freezing, which are the cold exposed ones. But
4:04
But if you live somewhere brutally cold or you've got a pipe sitting right out in the
4:07
open, foam on its own might not be enough. In that case, you can add an electric heat cable from a trusted brand like EZ Heat
4:14
And many of them are also self-regulating, so they only ramp up as temperatures get close
4:18
to freezing instead of using extra power all winter Outdoor faucets need a little attention too And actually this is one of the most misunderstood jobs in the house
4:28
And skipping this is how people end up with a flooded basement come spring
4:32
So first, unscrew your garden hose and put them away. A hose left on traps water right up against the faucet
4:38
And that trapped water freezes and cracks things. Next, shut off the water supply to that line and go outside and open the spigot to let the
4:45
leftover water drain out. If you've got a standard spigot in a cold climate, throwing a foam faucet cover over
4:51
it adds a bit of insurance. And here's the part that catches people. If you have a frost free faucet, it only protects you when it's installed with a slight downward
4:59
slope toward the outside. So before winter, take a quick look at yours
5:03
If it wasn't positioned correctly, then check whether the faucet is loose, because in some
5:07
cases a loose mounting can let it shift out of position. And simply tightening it after correcting the angle may solve the problem
5:14
If it's firmly mounted but sloped the wrong way, your options are either adding a small
5:17
bleeder valve inside so you can manually drain the line each winter or replacing it with
5:22
a quality frost free silcock. Well known options include models from Woodford and Prier
5:29
Heat rises and a thin layer of insulation won't do much to stop it from escaping through
5:33
the roof. So just go up and look what you've already got. If there's a decent layer up there, then you're mostly checking whether it's still
5:38
deep enough. Old insulation settles and packs down over the years. This means what used to be a thick layer might be half as deep and half as effective now
5:47
Measure how deep it is and if it's looking thin, you can simply add more on top
5:51
If you're starting fresh, then don't worry. Blown in insulation makes it easy
5:55
Either Owens Corning at a cat fiber glass or a cellulose like green fiber
5:59
But it isn't only a winter thing. In a hot climate, that same layer keeps heat out and your house cooler so it earns its
6:05
keep in both seasons. You should also clean your gutters ahead of winter
6:11
If they're blocked, melting snow backs up, turning into an ice dam, and can force water
6:16
under the roof and into your house. But draining off the roof isn't enough if it ends up next to the foundation
6:21
That's how it finds its way into basements and crawl spaces. A downspout extension helps carry it further into the yard
6:28
And my pick here would be the Ameramax Flexa spout While you got eyes on the roof line check the roof itself You really don want to be up there fixing things once the snow starts flying Look for shingles that are loose curled
6:41
or missing, and watch for the warning signs inside too like water stains on a ceiling
6:45
Snow is far heavier than it looks and the weight drags a loose shingle further out in place and
6:50
lets moisture sneak in. Spot something off heading into a snowy winter and you'll want a roofer up
6:55
there early. In heavy snow country, I'd also keep a roof rake on standby. Something like an avalanche
7:00
or a snow joe. From the ground you can pull snow off the lower roof and cut the weight and head off
7:05
ice thames. Then walk your yard and look up at the trees. This is the one people forget until a
7:10
branch is lying across your driveway. Watch for branches reaching over your house, the driveway
7:15
or the power lines. A dead limb caked into ice breaks away easily and those falling branches
7:20
drive a big share of winter damage and power cuts. If you can safely reach a limb, scrape back a little
7:25
bark to check for healthy, flexible wood. Anything higher that you can't handle should go to an
7:30
insured arborist, so don't turn it into a ladder job this late in the year. Good insulation helps, but you still rely on the heating system, so put an annual service
7:40
on the calendar. A tuned up furnace will burn more efficiently and won't leave you stranded
7:44
when the temperature bottoms out, but leave the safety checks and any chimney or combustion work
7:48
to a pro. The one job that's all yours is the filter. Drop in a fresh pleated one, let the
7:53
system run clean, and replace it every couple of months while the heat's on. And a good one is the
7:57
Filtret MPR 1900. It runs about 3 months and does the rare thing of catching fine particles
8:02
while letting air flow easily. One more thing, the humidifier built into your furnace. Switch
8:07
it on for the season to keep the air from getting so dry that it pulls moisture out
8:11
of your woodwork and leaves trim and floor gapping. Start with the thermostat. Around 68 degrees in a day is comfortable and you can drop it
8:20
a few degrees overnight to save a little. The hard rule is when you travel. Don't go below
8:24
about 55 Fahrenheit, since any lower risks freezing a pipe while you're away
8:29
Then there's the detectors. Go around and test every smoke and carbon monoxide detector in the house
8:34
They're especially important in the winter when furnaces and fireplaces are running more
8:38
often and the house stays closed up. While you're at it, replace the batteries instead of waiting for the low battery warning
8:44
They only cost a few dollars and it's one less thing to worry about
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