Winterizing Your Toronto Home

There are a lot of ways Toronto real estate owners can prepare for winter. While it’s not quite winter yet, anyone who’s ever swore they’d get around to minor necessary household repairs and maintenance before the snow began to fall has often found themselves in -30 weather in the middle of January wondering why they hadn’t gotten around to it sooner.

Is your Toronto home ready for winter?

Start early, and recognize that just a bit of preventative maintenance can help lower repair costs, make getting your home ready to sell a quicker process and generally just keep life easier. All of the following winterizing tips can be applied to cottages and other recreational properties as well:

Have your fireplace cleaned. You’re more likely to begin using your fireplace soon, so annual fireplace cleaning and maintenance is key for winter fire safety. In addition, check the outside of the chimney for cracks if it’s made of brick.

Have the roof professionally inspected or do it yourself if you can (look for loose or peeling shingles and obvious damage). Wintertime is when ice builds up and causes the most problems. If the gutters are cleaned out before the temperature drops, it can prevent this ice buildup.

Seal the driveway and patio. Wooden patios and asphalt driveways are susceptible to cracking and sagging due to continued freezing and thawing throughout the winter and spring unless they are properly sealed.

Have your furnace serviced. The last thing you want is to have furnace problems in the middle of the winter. Have your furnace checked for potential wear and tear or other problems and replace the filter if necessary.

Caulk windows from the outside, and add weatherstripping to exterior doors. Door sweeps on the exterior doors as well as interior doors can prevent the loss of heated air and help seal off parts of the home that aren’t as frequently used during the winter, preventing higher heating bills.

« Toronto Real Estate Income Properties Require Research On Potential Tenants | Home | Is Your Toronto Real Estate Agent Working For You? »