Top 7 Ways to Winterize your Home from your Toronto Contractor

Your home is your biggest investment ? you saved up to get the home, put a lot of money and effort into renovating your basement or kitchen, gave it that ?you? feeling.

No offense to your spouse or children, but your home is your baby and you intend to do everything you can to protect it from anything.

Along comes winter in Toronto.

Winter has it’s own set of parameters set to make your life miserable here in Toronto. It’s without rhyme or reason and will stop at nothing to make those cold, freezing days in the middle of February, even more dreadful and backbreaking.

At Solid Arc Construction, we recommend the following items to check off your list before winter comes to combat old man winter:

  1. Check your pipes and ensure they are turned off to the outside: A MUST in Canada if you don’t want your pipes to burst on a sub zero day, we ALWAYS recommend shutting them off. This includes the pipes to the outside where your hose is and making sure you don’t have any excess water dripping out.
  2. Change your filter or humidifier: As winter cold air comes in, your heating bill goes up. When you fire up your heater, make sure you’ve changed your humidifier so the home doesn’t feel dry.
  3. Run your ceiling fans in reverse: As cool as it feels when you have them running during the summer, if you run your ceiling fans in reverse during the winter, it will lower your heating bill!
  4. Installing storm windows: You don’t want to be stuck in the cold when that first winter storm hits! Make sure your windows are secure and paned properly for proper insulation.
  5. Using caulking or weatherstipping on your windows: As important as it is to change your windows, make sure there are no leaks surrounding your window so the drafty air doesn’t come in or out.
  6. Insulate your walls: This might be a tough one to do on the fly, but if you have enough insulation in your home, your home stays safe and warm. Often basement renovations in Toronto start with bare walls and can feel like the middle of Russia on a cold day in January.
  7. Sealing air ducts: Properly sealing ducts can save the average home up to $200 per year and you’ll have better protection against mold and dust.

All in all, these are some of the basics to ensuring your home is protected over the winter months. Contact your Toronto general contractor to make sure these items are crossed off your list for a safe and warm winter.