Winterizing your home

Winterizing your home is an essential task to protect your property from the harsh elements and ensure a safe and comfortable living environment. But what if you’re a landlord or property owner with a tenant residing in your home? Winterizing becomes a bit more complex when you need to consider the presence and needs of your tenant. Fortunately, with proper planning and communication, you can effectively winterize your home while respecting your tenant’s rights and maintaining a positive landlord-tenant relationship.

In this blog post, we will guide you through the process of winterizing your home when you have a tenant living in it. We’ll explore strategies and considerations to ensure a smooth and efficient winterization while keeping your tenant informed and involved in the process. By following these steps, you can protect your investment, prevent potential damage, and provide a comfortable living space for your tenant during the colder months.

From establishing open lines of communication and scheduling necessary maintenance to addressing safety concerns and promoting energy efficiency, we’ll cover all the crucial aspects of winterizing your home with a tenant in place. So, let’s delve into the practical tips and best practices that will help you navigate the winterization process seamlessly and foster a positive landlord-tenant relationship along the way.

How to winterize your rental home?

Winterizing with a person living in it is much more complicated than winterizing an empty house. We must make the house cozy and warm so the tenant can enjoy the winter.

Once in a while, regular maintenance is essential so that you only have a little work to do. So first of all, you must start by inspecting every corner of the house.

1. Check the heater and water heater to see if they are working correctly and if anything needs to be replaced. If you do not have any heating system or insulation, install it immediately. It is the only thing that keeps your house warm.
2. Check if there are any gaps or leakage on the walls, doors, and windows. To seal the gaps in the windows, use foam, plastic, or bubble tape to seal gaps in wall. It will prevent the cold air from entering the house.
3. Look for drafts and position a draft snake at the base of the doors. This way, cold air will not enter the house.
4. For further protection, use thick curtains or drapery. Making use of heavy material conventional drapes and curtains reduces heat loss through windows in your home. Shutting curtains at night can possibly reduce heat loss by up to 17 percent. The U.S. Department of Energy notes that the use of curtains that have a thermal lining can reduce heat loss by up to 25 percent.
5. Unfortunately, you cannot add antifreeze to anything while your tenant is living there as they will be using the items such as the fridge, washing machine, dishwasher, water pipes, tanks, and toilets.
6. Always keep your thermostat at 65 degrees. If it goes below that, then there are chances the house will freeze. You can only keep your house warm using the heater.
7. The next thing is the attic and rooftop. Inspect the attic and make the necessary changes. Clean the rooftop so the leaves do not freeze, and the snow does not get stuck on the rooftop.
8. Install storm windows for extra protection; it can stop the wind 2 times better than standard windows.
9. If you have a pool, remember to take care of that. Empty the pool, disconnect all the attached pipes, and add antifreeze.
10. You can leave the pipes to drip throughout the night so that the water flow is there and there is no chance of freezing.
11. Servicing the HVAC system is very important; replace the furnace and air filters.
12. Also, remember to remove the window A/C unit, or else it can collect snow.
13. If you have an attached garage, then better to keep one heater there as well, as the cold air from the garage makes the house wall cold. Be sure to remind the tenant to always close the garage door when not in use, as an open garage door can contribute to cooling the home.
14. The most important thing is to insulate the whole house before the winter comes to protect the whole house from any damage and cold.

Tips to prevent pipe freezing

Frozen pipes are very common during winter, and it becomes challenging to prevent them without antifreeze. If the pipes get frozen, there is a high chance of bursting within 48 hours.

Using a heater will keep the pipes warm. For more protection, open the cabinet under the kitchen sink so warm air flows around the pipes.

It is challenging to winterize the exposed pipes; it has higher chances of freezing. You can cover both the inside and outside pipes with insulating foam covers.

How to winterize the outside of your home?

You can control the temperature inside the house to some extent, but it isn’t easy to control the weather outside. In that case, you have to take preventive measures to save your household things.

If you have any plants outside, move them inside. You can cover the garden plants with any insulating material, but remember to remove it once the temperature increases.

Always brush the snow off the road, cars, trees, and plants; snow might break the trees and plants because of their heavy weight. Tell your tenants to clean the roads and sideways of your house regularly.

Conclusion|| Winterizing your home

Getting your rental apartment winter ready is your duty. You have to take responsibility for taking care of your tenants and ensure they do not face any problems during their stay. And it is also essential to make them understand their duty, how they can take care of the house during winter, and their contribution. You both will have to work together to welcome the cold weather. Read More>>