Frozen pipes not yet ruptured? You may not be so lucky next time.
Let’s look forward to August:
The sun was hot today, but there was shade along the trail, and you laughed with friends a million miles away from the cold of winter.
Still, you know it’s time to start prepping your home for freezing weather. Best to get started early, after all. But you’re already late.
The time to start prepping for next winter is this winter. Right now.
Take Stock
Kicking back and relaxing after an August day’s hiking with friends is a great way to enjoy life. But it’s not such a great way to start planning your winterization. If you wait until a balmy day in August to start your winter weather to-do list, chances are you’ll forget some things you need to do.
So get out your trusty laptop, tablet or, wait for it, pen and paper, and start keeping track of things you need to fix or upgrade. Maybe you noticed a lot of condensation build-up in a crawl space and want to check the vapor barriers. Perhaps a pipe froze but, mercifully, didn’t burst, and you want to insulate it better. Or perhaps you just decided that a snow blower would be a good investment and want to remind yourself of that fact when summer rolls around.
Start a punch list and write yourself notes to give yourself a huge head-start on prepping for next winter.
Act Now!
Never put off until summer work you can do in winter. Consider your basement sump pump. Virtually any plumbing issue that results in a spill can result in water standing in your basement.
A properly operating and performing sump pump can make the difference between an inconvenience and a major, costly misfortune that could disrupt your family’s life. So if you’re concerned that your 11-year-old sump pump might not stand up to that one pipe if it freezes again and bursts, get a new pump and install it right away. No more worries.
Help Others
Ok, so you’ve started tightening your ship for next winter, already, and will be better prepared than ever. What’s left for you to do? Look around and help your neighbors.
You’re reading a blog about preparing for next winter this winter, so chances are you’re well-versed in winterization. Share your knowledge with neighbors who may not have taken the time to familiarize themselves with best practices, so to speak.
Maybe you see that your neighbors haven’t winterized their exterior faucets or outbuildings. A friendly, “Hey, neighbor, when you insulate your outside faucets, I have some extra wrapping,” could save your neighbor some headaches. We think that’s pretty valuable, too.
