(BPT) – Every year, homeowners across the country take precautionary steps to winterize their homes to protect against burst water pipes as well as improve their overall comfort throughout the colder months. Winterizing your home goes beyond just ensuring snow and chills stay out. These three tips will help ensure that your home is adequately prepared for the harsher months ahead.
1. Reduce the risk of water damage – Beyond damage sustained from heavy rainfall, water damage can occur because of ice dam formation. Ice dams on your roof as well as snow melt near vulnerable basement windows can cause significant (and often unseen) damage to your home, which can result in costly repairs. Replacing traditional attic insulation with open-cell spray foam insulation can help mitigate air loss through your home’s roof, reducing the risk of ice dams while also helping to keep all that expensively conditioned air inside your home, keeping you and your family comfortable. Closed-cell spray foam insulation installed in basements can help reduce the risk of water entering your home. FEMA has identified this insulation as a flood-resistant material.
2. Reducing the prevalence of drafts – Cold spots and drafts throughout your home can literally make you shudder. It is estimated by the Air Barrier Association of America (ABAA) that gaps and cracks throughout the typical 2,500-square-foot American home can equate to more than half a mile. Sealing your home’s tiny cracks and crevices can help reduce the possibility of drafts inside your home.
3. Address potential problems before they develop – The frigid winter weather can often create problems that you did not anticipate around your home. Colder temperatures and increased precipitation are harsher on a house. Cleaning eavestroughs, ensuring the seals around windows and doors are intact, upgrading your traditional insulation and getting your HVAC unit serviced are all actions that can help to prepare your home for the upcoming winter.
Insulation can play a vital role in winterizing your home, allowing you and your family to remain comfortable throughout the entire winter. Spray foam insulation like that available from Icynene works well in all climates to seal the building and fill gaps to stop air leakage and reduce the strain on HVAC equipment.
More information is available online at www.icynene.com.
