Winter Maintenance: How to Keep Your House Warm
By Glenn Duxbury
As the winter season approaches and things start cooling down outside, it’s time to start thinking about preparing your home for the season. Beyond the usual preparations for temperature change and worrying about a drafty home, it’s also important to consider the fact the winter season means spending a lot more time indoors.
In winter, the furnace (or other heat source) is the heart of your house. Before anything else gets done, make sure you check your filter. If it’s old and dusty, you can either clean it or replace it. If your house /town home runs on forced air, you should spend the money to get the ducts vacuumed. Getting rid of the previous year’s dust, pet dander and other dangerous build-ups, instead of blowing them around your house for another season, is well worth the investment.
Next, make sure you’ve got a good and working carbon monoxide detector & smoke alarms on all levels. If you’ve got such already, make sure they work – you don’t want to endanger yourself or your family with faulty safety equipment.
You’ll also need to take humidity into account. Check the de-humistat connected to the main Bathroom fan is set properly and the fan is clean. If clogged, you can clean it with a vacuum or replace it entirely – especially if excessively NOISY and you cannot stand it. If you live in an apartment with radiators or electric heat, those can be vacuumed of accumulated dust.
Now, before you start sealing up your home for the season, you might want to give your house or apartment a really good cleaning. Get into those small, dusty areas and scrub them well, this way you can start your indoor season with a fresh, clean environment.
Keeping warm in the winter means ensuring you keep the heat inside. This means weatherproofing your doors and windows, plus the attic hatch cover.
Speaking of the attic, is the level of insulation sufficient ? Is your attic healthy (dry and clean) ? Anything living up there ???
For doors, there are a few things you can do to keep the draft from winning the battle for heat:
1. Install a sweep along the bottom of all your exterior doors. The sweep screws into the door and it has an adjustable rubber edge that makes a seal, which stops the draft from coming in under the doorway.
2. Apply “sticky foam” (like tape) to the inside edges of the door trim, sealing up the doorway against the winter winds.
3. Purchase weather-stripping which screws onto the outside edge of the doorway.
For windows:
1. Purchase temporary, removable caulking. Make sure you read and follow the instructions because, when the spring comes around, you don’t want to ruin your walls and/or window panes when you remove the caulking.
2. Use removable draft seal, which is also like tape. Simply tape up your windows in the winter and peel the tape off in the spring.
3. Finally, the old standard plastic (apply by blow-drying) is also an option. If you don’t want to seal up your windows, you can always avoid window drafts are by making use of window coverings like heavy drapes or blinds.
Now, don’t seal up all of your windows! Make sure you can still open one or two of the best which have a good seal when closed because even thought it might be cold, it’s still important to get some fresh air inside.
Now your space will be warm for the season, why not make it cheerful?
Buy some potpourri or beeswax candles (which naturally keep areas dust free) and ‘green up’ your space with some plants, which add some much needed oxygen to any home.
Keeping a warm, comforting and energy efficient home is one way to beat the winter doldrums!
On the outside:
1. Clean debris out of gutters.
2. Have roof checked to ensure no leaks.
3. Bring snow shovels to an easily accessible place near your house door
(i.e. not the crawlspace or the detached garage).
4. Purchase chemical de-icer or salt to have on hand for walkways and driveways. Remember – salt is for pavement and chemical de-icer is for concrete. Never place salt on concrete!!
5. Have your furnace and gas fireplaces serviced if not already done. Change or clean your furnace filter.
6. Turn off your hose bibs (outside taps) and remove hoses to storage. If your hose bibs are not frost protected, either install a heat tracer wire on your pipes or wrap with a cloth or towel to protect them from freezing.
7. Ensure you have working flashlights and candles easily accessible for those unexpected power outages.
8. If you have a wood burning fireplace you should have your flue cleaned and checked prior to using it this winter. Ensure your smoke damper is closing properly – against excessive heat-loss. Also remember not to burn Xmas wrap in your fireplace. This is a major cause of chimney fires.
It is always wise to purchase the items that are necessary, early – so you do not get so surprised at the hardware store after the first snowfall when they have sold out all snow shovels and de-icer.
Glenn Duxbury & Associates- Building Inspection and Consulting
“Uncovering Tomorrow’s Surprises, TODAY !”
604 524-2502 http://www.glennduxbury-inspections.com
Home Purchase Inspection: What You Need to Know Before Choosing An Inspector
By Glenn Duxbury
It’s often said that one of the most expensive and important purchases you will ever make will be your home. However, unlike the guarantee a buyer receives with most purchases, there’s no money-back, guarantee or return policy if you’re not satisfied with your recently purchased home. Once you buy a home, you’re on your own to maintain it, repair it, anticipate problems and pay the bills – assuming there has been no misrepresentation made. This is why it’s best to know as much as you can about potential problems before you make the commitment to buy.
What home and property inspectors do:
One of the best ways to understand about a home’s condition, habitability and safety is to hire a professional home inspector. A properly trained home inspector will review your house as a system, looking at how one component of the house might affect the operability or life-span of another. Home inspectors will go through the property and perform a comprehensive visual inspection to assess the condition of the house and all of its systems. They will reveal or uncover the components that are not performing properly as well as items that are beyond their useful life or are unsafe. They will also identify areas where repairs may be needed or where there may have been problems in the past. Inspections are intended to provide the client with a better understanding of property conditions, as observed at the time of the inspection.
A pre-purchase inspection by a true professional for a basic home (1,800 to 2,200 sq. ft. house) should take at least 4-5 hours, minimum, to be very thorough and should cost upwards of $500 – $600 assuming there is no secondary living suite(s). Following the inspection, the buyer is presented with a written report, consolidating the details of the inspection. The home inspector should be willing to answer any questions a buyer might have and to clarify the limitations of the inspection to avoid misunderstandings. CMHC and many other agencies /consumer-protection sources of information on the subject strongly recommend that potential buyers accompany the inspector as the inspection takes place. It can be a valuable learning experience, to say the least, and is an excellent opportunity to ask lots of questions.
Scope of the inspection:
The home inspector will provide a visual inspection by looking at the home’s various systems, including interior and exterior components. The inspector should check exterior components including roofing, flashing, chimneys, gutters, downspouts, wall surfaces, the foundation, and the grading around it. Note that if the inspection takes place in the winter, the roof and the foundation may not be fully visible for inspection if they are covered with snow and ice. For safety and insurance reasons, the home inspector is not required to climb up on a roof to look at it but will /should make all possible efforts to do so. However, the home inspector should inspect the roof from the ground. This also applies to the chimney and downspouts. If problems or symptoms beyond the scope of the inspection are found, the home inspector may recommend further evaluation by another professional /specialist.
The home inspector will also check interior systems including electrical, heating, air conditioning, ventilation, plumbing, insulation, flooring, ceiling and wall finishes, plus windows and doors. Note that a home inspector is not qualified to inspect a wood-burning appliance such as a fireplace or wood stove unless they are WETT (Wood Energy Technology Training) certified, as a specialist. To be properly inspected, the chimney must first be cleaned.
As with the outside of the home, the inspection of the interior systems is visual, meaning that the inspector will not be able to see behind walls or under the floor. Professional inspectors, however, use specialized detection devices to help “see” behind interior finishes not normally visible such as very sensitive moisture detectors to check for water where it should not be, combustible gas detectors, electrical circuit-testers and infra-red thermometers.
What an Inspection Does Not Include
An inspection does not and should not be expected to include appraisal information, exact quotes for repairs, or pointing out non-compliance with building code requirements. A home inspection is not intended to provide warranties or guarantees. A home inspection is intended to help you make an informed decision about buying your home. A home inspection is not to be mistaken as a “warranty” on the home or guarantee against future maintenance and repair needs.
Choosing a home inspector:
Home inspecting is a discipline that requires special training, knowledge, experience and communication skills. While consumers, banks, and the insurance industry have been encouraging the home and property inspection industry to develop standards of practice with a certification program for some time, there is presently no uniform certification and no requirement for home inspectors to take any courses or to have passed any tests. Anyone can say they are a home inspector. That is why it is important to choose an inspector wisely, asking a lot of important questions. Reputable home and property inspectors generally belong to a provincial or regional industry Association. Each of these Associations has set standards, which, in some cases, are recognized by provincial governments. Some Associations have developed membership categories based on the individual members’ qualifications.
Standards for these Associations currently vary from province to province, but the industry is working toward implementing accreditation and certification standards. To become a member of these associations, an inspector must meet educational requirements followed by a review process. Members of these associations are also required to have errors and omission insurance, as other professions require. Until consumers can identify home inspectors who have achieved uniform certification, it is important to ask lots of questions and choose wisely when selecting a home inspector (NOT just ‘price’), since this is not a ‘commodity’.
- Insured and Licensed ?
- Written Report and when can I expect to receive same ?
- Member of a professional Home Inspector Association ?
- How long will the inspection take ?
- References ? Training (if any)?
- Knowledgeable about Condos /Strata-titled units (if not buying a detached house) and will you look at more than just the Unit interior ?
- Do you allow me to attend, also and ask questions ?
- Will you also check appliances (most do not) ?
-Glenn Duxbury, CHI, License #47730 – Owner
Glenn Duxbury & Associates-Building Inspection and Consulting
“Uncovering Tomorrow’s Surprises, TODAY !””
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