Plan Ahead for the Harsh Weather
One of the best opportunities to do some home improvement projects to get your home ready for winter is Labor Day weekend. Having an extra day off from work gives you the extra time you need for projects that require more time. The trick is to plan ahead and focus on preparing your home for the harsh weather that winter brings.
If you yearn for BBQ on the last official weekend of summer, look no further than your crockpot. Buy a full slab of ribs on Thursday or Friday before the weekend hits. On Saturday morning get up early and brown the ribs in your oven. Once browned, cut them into separate pieces, place them in the crockpot on low with a bottle of your favorite sauce and simmer for 6-8 hours. When dinner rolls around you’ll have tender meat that falls off the bone and you won’t have to stand next to a hot grill after working hard on other projects all day.
One of the best ways to prepare your home for winter is by cleaning the gutters or eaves. This protects your home from any water leaks which can cause roof damage and a wet basement. When gutters are full of leaves, branches, and dirt, water pools and your home’s eaves are more prone to sagging, rusting, and pulling loose from the house. When this happens water drains into your basement or into your ground floor, damaging drywall, floors, and carpeting. Excess water causes mold, an even bigger and more costly mess to clean up.
To clean your home’s gutters you need a ladder and a good pair of gloves to protect your hands from the gutters’ sharp surfaces. This task can be done in as little as 30 minutes to an hour depending on the size of your house. It’s best to position the ladder in one spot and clean the gutters from the roof rather than moving the ladder around the house, climbing up and down every time. Better to maneuver on your hands and knees from the top of your roof. Homeowners who experience vertigo, have a fear of heights or are prone to clumsiness should consider hiring someone to do this task.
Replace Door Trims or Weather Stripping
Another Labor Day weekend project that gets your home ready for winter and actually saves you money on your heating and cooling bills is replacing door trims or weather stripping. There are two types of weather stripping for doors. Look for sweeps for the bottom of the door and foam weather-stripping for the area around the door’s trim. Attach sweeps to the bottom of your doors with the screws provided. Be sure your door’s trim is clean as the foam strips have self-adhesives that require extremely clean surfaces in order to stick well.
A third Labor Day weekend project that also protects your home’s outdoor surfaces from the elements is outdoor painting. Grab your scrapers, brushes, rollers, primer, and paint so you can protect your home’s siding, trim, doors, and eaves before the weather gets bad. Paint is the best way to protect these surfaces before they require a more expensive repair or replacement later. When unprotected wood rots you face a much more expensive and labor-intensive project.
A fresh coat of paint on your home’s fascia boards, soffits, and under-hangs help extend the life of your roof and adds more curb appeal and value to your home. When the boards that support your roof are well protected your roof will last longer. Labor Day weekend is also the time to paint or seal a deck or back porch. Textured paint and sealer make walking on these surfaces when they’re wet or covered in snow that much safer.
A little bit of elbow grease goes a long way to protecting your home from the harsh weather winter brings. Labor Day weekend is the perfect time to do these home improvement projects.