4 Exterior Home Maintenance Tips to Prepare Your Home for Cold Weather

4 Exterior Home Maintenance Tips To Prepare
Your Park City, UT, Home For Cold Weather

How To Protect Your Home From Damage This Winter

Winter in Park City, UT, can be one of the most beautiful times of the year – with sparkling snow and ice adorning the landscape. At the same time, it can be one of the most hazardous for your home. Taking certain precautions to prepare your home for cold weather will go a long way toward protecting it from severe damage. Follow these four tips for the best results this winter.

1. Inspect And Clean Your Gutter System

One of the worst things that can happen in the winter is the formation of ice dams on your roof. If your gutters are not prepared for the winter, these ice dams can extend to your gutter system, causing significant damage, including the gutter system completely pulling away from your home.

When warm air rises from your attic and heats the snow on your roof, it melts and runs down to the clogged gutters. With no outlet to the ground, the water pools and collects on your roof – and with freezing temperatures, the water quickly turns to ice. 

Eventually, a ridge of ice forms that won’t allow any more water to pass, and instead, it pools behind the ice on the roof. This can lead to severe damage to your home’s roof and interior. In addition, it could leave you needing a completely new gutter installation.

The best way to ensure this does not happen is to clean your gutter system thoroughly before the cold weather starts. Another solution to preventing blocked gutters is adding professionally installed leaf protection to your gutter system. This protective system will stop debris, leaves, and animals from entering your gutters, removing the need for cleanings.

Some of them, like the Gutter Topper, encourage snow to fall from the roof. Others, like Leaf Terminator, prevent snow and ice from entering the gutter system.

2. Make Efforts To Prevent Ice Dams

While cleaning and maintaining your gutters go a long way toward preventing ice dams, other factors are involved. If your attic’s insulation is not doing its job well enough, heat will leak out of your home through your roof. As we mentioned, this causes the snow to melt, leading to the formation of ice dams.

If you had problems with ice dams last winter, having your insulation inspected is an excellent idea. For one thing, you’re losing precious heat energy through your roof, driving up your bill each month. Secondly, you may be able to impact the development of ice dams by fixing the heat loss at its source.

One way to guarantee that your roof will not develop ice dams this winter is to have an ice melt system installed before the cold weather starts. These systems keep the snow and ice from the edge of your roof and ensure your gutters stay free-flowing regardless of the weather you are experiencing. 

Investing in an ice melt system can be just what you need to protect your home from severe winter damage caused by ice dams.

3. Inspect And Replace Any Faulty Windows

The windows on your Park City, UT, home can be the source of a significant amount of energy loss. You will need to inspect them for signs of drafts, ensuring that all the seals are intact. While weather-stripping is an option, it does not guarantee that you will get the most energy efficiency from your windows, especially if they are old and past their prime.

Having a new window installation for any outdated windows can upgrade your home’s ability to maintain its internal temperature, no matter the outside temperature. Opting for triple-pane windows is ideal, as these provide the best energy efficiency and noise-dampening results. They’re also significantly harder to break through, giving you peace of mind.

You’ll also boost your home’s value with a replacement window installation. Over time, when you choose the right windows, they’ll pay for themselves in energy savings.

4. Inspect, Repair, Or Replace Damaged Siding

The siding on your home is what protects it from harsh weather during the winter. It keeps the snow and ice out, preventing moisture from entering your walls. If there is any damage to your siding, it needs to be repaired or replaced as soon as possible. Now is a great time to invest in a new siding installation if yours is old and worn out.

Walk around your entire home, looking for signs of damage that include the following:

• Dents
• Warping
• Rotting
• Cracking
• Pest infestation

If any of these warning signs are present, you more than likely have a severe problem that needs immediate attention.

Unfortunately, a simple repair isn’t viable if you see signs of cracking, warping, or damage caused by pests. Consider investing in high-quality James Hardie fiber cement siding engineered explicitly for the Park City, UT, climate. This siding offers superior protection against the elements and will give you decades of high performance. 

Let RGS Exteriors Help You Get Your Park City, UT,
Home Ready For The Winter

When winterizing your Park City, UT, home, you may need expert exterior remodeling services to help you get your home where it needs to be. Turn to a company that’s obsessed with the details.

Here at RGS Exteriors, no detail is too small for us – right down to the fasteners we use during your siding installation. Our goal is to deliver a finished product that outlasts its warranty.

Call us today at (801) 997-6616 to schedule your free estimate. 

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