Tips and tricks to affordably winter-proof your house
News 12's Lauren Del Valle met with HGTV personality and professional home inspector Joe Mazza to discuss tips and tricks for homeowners for properly winterizing their homes.
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News 12's Lauren Del Valle met with HGTV personality and professional home inspector Joe Mazza to discuss tips and tricks for homeowners for properly winterizing their homes.
He says almost any winterizing method could be done by a homeowner.
"The amount of heat loss within homes, especially with older windows and older installation is tremendous, but people just constantly, year after year, spend that money on that heating bill, when they can avoid that," said Mazza.
He shared a variety of tips on winterproofing the interior and exterior of the homeowner's property.
Some tips included:
Caulking windows to ensure there's no draft
Clearing and cleaning gutters to prevent ice damming
Turning off hose bibs on the outside of the property to prevent freezes
Hiring a professional to check and clean the fireplace every single year
For those who use space heaters:
To ensure its not plugged into a power strip
Don't leave it unattended
For those vacationing:
To prevent pipe freezing if the pipes line an exterior wall (such as a bathroom or kitchen sink):
Open the cabinets and let the warmer air warm the pipes
Leave a trickle of water
Keep the heat on
Mazza added the following trick to figure out if you have drafty windows/doors:
Step 1: Wait for nighttime
Step 2: Grab a friend or family member and have one person wait each side of the door
Step 3: Use a flashlight around the perimeter. If the person on the other side can see the light flooding through, then that means you have a draft spot.
He added that winterization is not as simple as it might seem.
"People feel like they can just close the window and close the door and that will keep the heat in...I mean it's all false. The wind is going to rip through your house one way or the other," said Mazza.
