Winterizing a house is really a short list of specific, mostly inexpensive tasks that are far easier to do in October than to deal with the consequences of skipping them in January. None of it is complicated. Most of it just needs to actually happen before the first real cold snap arrives.
Exterior taps and hose bibs
A cracked outdoor tap from a forgotten hose is one of the most common and most avoidable winter repairs.
- Disconnect garden hoses completely before the first hard freeze, since a hose left attached traps water in the tap itself and can crack it.
- For older, non-frost-free exterior taps, shut off the interior valve feeding that tap.
- Open the outside tap after the interior valve is closed to drain the remaining water out of the line.
- Leave the outside tap open slightly through winter so any residual water has somewhere to expand if it freezes.
- For frost-free hose bibs, disconnect the hose regardless, since the design still needs the line clear to drain fully.
Sealing drafts
Finding drafts is easier on a specific kind of day, and fixing them is usually a single afternoon.
- Run a hand slowly around window and door frames on a windy day, when drafts are easiest to feel.
- Note every spot where you feel moving air, rather than fixing the first one and assuming the rest are the same.
- Apply weatherstripping around door frames where the seal has flattened or gone brittle.
- Caulk gaps around window frames on the interior side, where a small bead makes a genuine difference to both comfort and heating cost.
- Check the attic hatch or access panel while you are at it, since that is one of the most commonly missed sources of heat loss in the house.
The furnace and the attic
A furnace filter should be checked before the heating season really starts and changed if it is visibly grey or clogged, since restricted airflow makes the furnace work harder for the entire winter and shortens its life in the process. While checking the attic hatch or access panel, confirm it seals well and is properly insulated on top, not just the surrounding ceiling, since an uninsulated hatch is a direct heat leak straight into the attic space above it, which is part of what drives ice damming later in the season once real cold and snow arrive together.
Eavestroughs and downspouts
Gutters cleared of leaves and downspout extensions checked to make sure they carry water at least a couple of metres away from the foundation matter more heading into winter than at almost any other time of year, since a blocked gutter going into the first freeze sets up exactly the conditions that lead to ice damming along the roofline once the snow starts building up. If this has not been done yet, our separate guide on clearing gutters safely covers the ladder setup and the actual clearing process in full.
For the parts of this list that need more than an afternoon, our general handyman service in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge can work through the whole checklist in one visit before the cold sets in.