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Winterizing The House

Do it now, before it gets colder

House Doctor | Gary Dymski

October 9, 2003

Once we had a roof leak. It happened in the dead of winter, with several inches of snow blanketing our shingles. What a mess.

Once we had drafty windows and doors. It was virtually impossible to caulk exterior cracks and weather-strip crevices in the rain that fell constantly that late fall.

Once we had a faulty outdoor faucet - with no shutoff valve - that dripped and dripped. When it froze, yuck.

Get the idea?

With the weather still cooperative, now is the time to prepare your home to withstand a more unreasonable Mother Nature. You need not be a construction professional to "weatherize" your home. Inspecting exterior systems - roof, windows and doors, foundation, plumbing, electric and heating - can be performed by the most inexperienced homeowner. You just need to know what to look for. (That's where we come in.)

You might start by making a checklist; every home is different. If you have old windows and doors or a moist basement, make those priorities.

To help with your checklist, we'll review some areas of the home - interior and exterior - that should be examined seasonally. In addition, we'll provide some Web addresses where you can get repair and maintenance information.

Of course, some work is better left to the professionals. For example, tuning up your furnace, repairing your masonry chimney or fixing a leaky roof might be out of your realm. But these areas can be inspected visually by homeowners for signs of failure.

If you have the time, you'll likely save yourself loads and loads of trouble later on - because something always goes wrong at the worst possible time.

1. Roof

Start with a visual inspection. If you can safely (crucial term) walk on your roof, look for missing or broken shingles, missing flashing (the metal coverings around openings and between valleys) and sagging gutters. If you can't walk on your roof, perform the inspection with a pair of binoculars.

Remember, the gutters and downspouts also part of the roof system. Although this often is a job for late fall, your gutters might be clogged now with old leaves, twigs and other debris. Clean out and repair gutters. You might have to repeat the cleaning process later in the fall, after most of the leaves have fallen from the trees. Rotted wood often lies behind sagging gutters. If these damaged fascia boards aren't replaced, interior leaks could follow.

Another overlooked part of the roof is the chimney. All chimneys should have a cap, which keeps debris, animals and moisture from entering the opening. On masonry chimneys, look for loose bricks and mortar or missing bricks. If you can't make the repairs, find a reputable mason.

On the Web: National Roofing Contractors Association (www.nrca.net); Chimney Safety Institute of America (www.csia.org); Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (www.hpba.com).

2. Siding

Whether vinyl, wood or brick, the exterior covering of your home can fail over the years. Vinyl can warp and buckle. Wood can crack, split and rot. Brick can loosen and decay. These failures can allow moisture through walls, eventually causing serious problems. Again, a visual inspection can save you headaches. Replace and repair damaged siding. Remove dirt, grime and mold. For repair information, visit the Web sites listed below.

On the Web: Vinyl Siding Institute (www.vinylsiding.org); The Engineered Wood Association (www.apawood.org); MSN House and Home (www.houseandhome.msn.com).

3. Windows and Doors

Cleaning, caulking and weather- stripping should be priorities. On older windows, you might have to replace glass, scrape peeling paint and dried caulk, and remove rotted wood. Signs of wood rot include crumbling and wood that is spongy soft. Use insulating window film to cut down on drafts. With newer vinyl windows, caulking, cleaning and installing new weather-stripping should suffice.

On doors, squirt squeaky hinges and hard-to-turn locks with liquid graphite. Tighten loose hinge screws; replace missing ones. To check weather-stripping, close the door and, from the inside, run a lit candle across the edges of the door. If the flame flickers or goes out, you have a draft. Another detection method is to have a helper on the outside shine a flashlight around the edges of the door while another person examines the edges from the inside. If light shines through, there's an opening to seal.