EPISODE 32 – [1st Time Homebuyer] – PREPARING YOUR HOME FOR COLD OR STORMY WEATHER

Preparing your home for cold weather, snowstorms, heavy rain, and severe storms may help prevent expensive repairs and major homeowner stress. In this episode of the Happy Homeowners Hub Podcast, Fred Turner shares practical home maintenance tips every first-time homebuyer should know before bad weather strikes.

Drawing from Chapter 8 of The Happy Homeowners Handbook for First-Time Homebuyers, Fred discusses how to protect your home from frozen pipes, roof leaks, basement flooding, ice dams, storm damage, and more. He also shares real-life experiences from working in the property restoration industry and adds a little homeowner humor along the way.

If you are a first-time homebuyer or homeowner wanting to avoid costly weather-related mistakes, this episode may help you feel more prepared and confident.

Topics Covered:

• Preparing your home for winter weather 
• Storm preparedness for homeowners 
• Preventing frozen pipes 
• Gutter and roof maintenance tips 
• Basement flood prevention 
• Emergency homeowner preparation 
• Insurance tips for homeowners 
• Home maintenance basics for first-time buyers 

Learn more at:
 HappyHomeownersHub.com 

Here is another great source for cold weather preparation tips:

todayshomeowner.com/weather

Books available from Happy Homeowners Hub and sold on Amazon.com

For more details on these books, check out HappyHomeownersHub.com 

                       Click on the Amazon book links below

The Happy Homeowners Handbook for Navigating Property Claims

The Happy Homeowners Property Claim Documentation Booklet 

The Happy Homeowners Handbook for First-Time Homebuyers 

The Happy Homeowners Handbook for Selling Your Home by Owner 

The Happy Homeowners Home Maintenance Journal 

The Happy Homeowners Helper (A Children's book to help with a move) 

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Transcript

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This is episode 32 and is titled Preparing Your Home for Cold or Stormy Weather. Today we're talking about something that many first-time homebuyers underestimate until it's far too late: protecting your home before cold weather, snowstorms, ice, heavy rain, or severe storms show up at your front door. Because let me tell you something, weather does not send a courtesy text message first. One day, you're sipping coffee, feel like, hey, I'm a pretty responsible homeowner. And the next day, your gutters are overflowing, or your pipes are freezing, or your garage door sounds like it's auditioning for a horror movie. This episode includes information from chapter 8 of my book, The Happy Homeowners Handbook for First Time Home Buyers. So let's jump in, shall we? Welcome to the Happy Homeowners Hub Podcast, where we share real life stories and break down the lessons, mistakes, and wins that can save you time, money, and stress on buying your first home, navigating your property claim, selling your home by owner, and home maintenance and repair tips. I am your host, Fred Turner, and each week I'll guide you through these four topics so you can become a happy homeowner with no regrets. Your home is kind of like a car. One of the biggest mistakes first-time homeowners make is assuming the house will simply take care of itself. A home is a lot like a car, without the idiot lights that warn you when something's going wrong. If you ignore maintenance long enough, you'll pay dearly for it later. For example, small issues become expensive issues. Tiny leaks become water damage or mold. Weak tree limbs become living room decorations during a storm. Frozen pipes become indoor fountains. And trust me, indoor fountains are not relaxing when your insurance deductible is involved. Preparing your home before bad weather arrives could prevent water damage, ice damming, frozen pipes, roof leaks, basement flooding, power outages, fallen tree damage, mold growth, and much, much more. The key is preparation before the storms, not during the storm while standing at Home Depot with 40 other panicked homeowners fighting over the last generator. Let's start with the gutters and downspouts. Gutters are one of the most ignored parts of the home until they stop working. Leaves, sticks, dirt, debris clog gutters and prevent water from flowing properly. Then, when heavy rain or melting snow hits, the water backs up, and guess where it goes? Usually somewhere expensive. Overflowing gutters may cause roof leaks, fascia damage, foundation issues, basement seepage, and ice dams during the wintertime. A simple gutter cleaning twice a year and after severe storms could save thousands of dollars. Frozen pipes are one of the most common winter disasters for homeowners, and many first-time homebuyers don't realize how destructive frozen pipes can actually be. When water freezes, it expands. That expansion may crack or burst pipes. Then, once the temperatures warm up and the frozen burst pipe thaws, water starts spraying everywhere. I've seen homes where homeowners went away for the weekend and came back to collapsed ceilings, soaked insulation, warped hardwood floors, mold issues, and ruined furniture all over a frozen pipe. I even had a customer call while they were out of town on vacation saying that their neighbor called and said very large icicles were forming from their second floor siding and running down to the ground. That's usually not a good sign. Here are a few prevention tips. Disconnect the garden hoses before the winter, shut off the exterior spigot shutoff valves and drain the water before winter, cover spigots with foam covers, insulate exposed pipes, keep garage doors closed during the extreme cold, and let your faucets drip slightly during severe winter freezes and open the sink cabinets. That will prevent the pipes from freezing. Keep indoor temperatures consistent in your house, especially during severe cold. Even if you leave town, don't shut your heat off completely. Trying to save a few dollars on heating could cost thousands later, and make sure you have a friend, family member, or neighbor check on your house every few days while you're out of town. Check your roof before the weather does. Your roof is your home's first line of defense, but many homeowners never look at it until water starts dripping into the kitchen. That's usually not an ideal inspection method. Before the winter season, check for missing or lifted shingles, look for lifted or loose flashing, inspect your roof fence, remove leaves and sticks from the roof especially in the valleys, and check the attic areas for moisture stains. Small roofing problems often become large roofing problems during heavy snow, ice, or windstorms. And here's the thing, storms love weak spots on your roof. If your roof already has some damage, severe weather will expose it quickly. This is also a good time to tree trim branches that are hanging over the house, because trees and roofs occasionally have very aggressive disagreements during storms, and usually it's the roof that loses. Here's an important weather tip for snowy areas. To prevent your roof from having ice dams created by heavy or multiple snowstorms, especially if you live in these heavy snow areas, it's important to purchase a roof rake. And after a heavy snowstorm or multiple smaller snowstorms, pull the snow away from the eaves to prevent ice damming, which will cause water to pool on your roof, and with nowhere to escape, it will seep through the roof and into your walls of your home. I see this every year, and you will be amazed at how much damage it can create. So this is very important if you live in areas that see heavy snow. For older homes that are drafty and have older windows that get very cold in the winter, you can purchase window insulation film to apply over the windows. I recommend the 3M or Duck brand. For drafty doors, apply weather stripping around the door jams. There are YouTube videos that can walk you through how to do both of these. Also, for drafty doors, you can get what's called cold draft stoppers, or roll up a bath towel and place it at the bottom of your doors. If your home has a basement and a sun pump, don't assume it works just fine, just because it exists. A sun pump is kind of like a smoke detector. You really want to know it works before you have an emergency, so test it periodically. Pour water into the pit and make sure it activates. Check the discharge line and make sure it's not clogged. Verify that the water is flowing away from the home, not towards the home. If you have frequent storms or power outages, consider a battery backup sump pump or a generator, because storms often knock out power at the exact moment your sum pump is needed most. It's almost like storms coordinate this stuff. Every homeowner should have a basic emergency kit, not because we expect disaster, but because life happens. Here are some items that you should keep on hand. Flashlights, batteries, bottled water, blankets, portable phone chargers, first aid kit, non-perishable food like canned foods, tuna, peanut butter, etc., snow shovel, ice melt, portable battery-operated radio, and if you live in areas with severe winter storms, a backup heat source, a generator, and tarps, as well as a wet, dry vacuum. Every homeowner should know where the main water shutoff is, where the electric panel is, and where the gas shutoff is. If a pipe bursts at 2 a.m., that's not the time to begin your treasure hunt looking for the shutoff valve. Knowing how to shut things off quickly could reduce major damage. I recommend walking through your house and physically locating the water shutoff valves, circuit breakers, generator and power cords, and the gas shutoff access. And label things clearly if you have to. Review your insurance coverage periodically. Here's something that many homeowners don't even think about till after the damage happens. Does your insurance policy actually cover the loss? Many homeowners assume if something happens, insurance will just cover it. Sometimes yes, sometimes no, and sometimes partially. Review your deductible, your water backup coverage, your sun pump endorsements, roof coverage, personal property limits, additional living expense coverage, and document your home contents before disasters happen. Take photos and videos of all the rooms, furniture, electronics, tools, appliances, and valuables. Trust me, trying to remember every item you've owned for the last 10 years after a disaster becomes very difficult, especially when stress levels are high. I once inspected a home after a severe winter freeze where a pipe burst in an upstairs bathroom. The homeowners were gone for a few days, and water ran continuously through the ceilings, into light fixtures, down the walls, across the hardwood floors, and into the finished basement. The entire home required major drying and reconstruction, and the homeowners had to be out of their house during this whole process. The sad part is this damage could have been prevented with a small drip in the faucet, better insulation, and maintaining indoor heat at a proper temperature. Sometimes very small preventative tips can make a huge difference. Let's quickly recap some of the smart ways to repair your home for cold or stormy weather, clean your gutters and downspouts, protect exposed pipes, inspect your roof, trim dangerous tree branches, test your sun pump, start an emergency supply kit, learn your shutoff locations, review your insurance coverage, and document your belongings before a disaster strikes. Preparation reduces stress. Preparation reduces damage. Preparation helps create a happy homeowner with no regrets. And honestly, prevention is usually much cheaper than reconstruction. Here's another great source for cold weather preparation tips. If you enjoyed this episode and want more homeowner tips and guidance, check out my book, The Happy Homeowners Handbook for First Time Home Buyers, along with some of my other books also available on Amazon.com. You can get more information on these books in the show notes or visit HappyHomeownersHub.com. I also recommend checking out some of my other books. The Happy Homeowners Handbook for Navigating Property Claims, the Happy Homeowners Property Claim Documentation Booklet, and the Happy Homeowners Home Maintenance Journal. These books were created to help homeowners feel more confident, informed, organized, and prepared. The Happy Homeowners Hub newsletter is also available. To sign up, simply go to HappyHomeownersHub.com, go to the contact us page and type the word newsletter in the message box. Thank you for listening to the Happy Homeowners Hub Podcast. If you found this episode helpful, share it with someone who's thinking about buying their first home. And remember, the more you know, the more confident you feel, and that's how you become a happy homeowner with no regrets. My goal is to make your homeownership journey smoother, smarter, and way less stressful. I've got some great stories, tips, and occasional guest experts coming up in future episodes, so stay tuned. And remember, your home is your biggest investment. Be smart from the start. Thanks for listening. This is Fred Turner, and I'll see you at the next episode. Have a bless day. Goodbye.