The cold weather has arrived in the Washington DC metropolitan market and now is the time to start thinking about winterizing your new home. Here are a few tips and tricks from the Warranty Department at Winchester Homes.

1.)    Take a look at your gutters. Are they clogged full of fall leaves? If so, make sure you remove the debris either by hand, scraper or even a spatula. Give your gutters a good rinse afterward to make sure everything gets flushed out and make sure the water is properly draining away from your home.

2.)    Check your heating unit. If you haven’t done so already, turn it on to make sure that it is working. A slight odor when you first turn on your heat is normal. It should disappear in a few minutes. If your home is over a year old, consider having it cleaned by an HVAC specialist annually. Finally, don’t forget to change your filter on a regular basis.

3.)    Don’t neglect your hose bibs. Shut off all the individual hose bib water supply valves. Make sure all garden hoses are removed and all the lines are drained of water. Finally, remove bleeder caps and keep in a safe location for easy retrieval in the spring.

4.)    Check your alarms. Now is the perfect time to test out smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Test the batteries…if your alarms are older, it may be worth your while to test them with a small amount of smoke. Also, double check the location of your fire extinguisher and make sure that it isn’t expired.

For more advice, please visit our Winterization Guide.