Winter is quickly approaching and now is the best time to start preparing yourself for the cold season ahead! If you’re not planning to escape the cold weather and snowy atmosphere, it’s important you stay ahead of the game. In this blog post we give 10 tips to make sure winter doesn’t get the best of you this season.
1. Check Your Property For Damage
Generally, your insurance will cover damages that are caused by heavy snow. However, it’s still important that you do routine checks of your roof and other parts of your house to avoid any potential claims. Making sure to check and secure or fix any broken or lose shingles is a simple step to avoid more serious damages to the structure.
2. Shovel Your Property
Shoveling snow seems like the obvious step to anyone’s daily winter routine, however to some this is overlooking. Making sure that snow doesn’t pile up around your structure can reduce your chances of flooding due to melted snow.
3. Avoid Frozen Pipes
To avoid pipes freezing, especially if you haven’t used it in a while, make sure that throughout the winter, you routinely run the faucets. This is especially vital if you have faucets connected to pipes that are running through an unprotected space. If you are away for an extended period of time during the winter season, get a neighbor or a family member to routinely check the house for damage and briefly run the faucets to avoid freezing. This simple maintenance step can save your pipes and your wallet in the long run.
4. Maintain Clear Pathways To Your Home
Ice and icy pathways can be liability risk and a hazard to others. When cleaning up pathways, make sure to always use salt on the icy areas. Similarly, if there are icicles forming, make sure they aren’t a hazard to others.
5. Trim Branches or Dead Trees
This is an especially important step, because in the event of an ice storm or snow storm, the weight of the ice and/or snow can potentially cause the branches or trees to collapse onto your home and cause minor-major damage to your structure. Typically your home insurance policy will cover the cost of the damage; however some do not cover the damage caused by dead trees, which is your responsibility to remove. Use the spring and summer seasons as an opportunity to do any landscape maintenance to your home to ensure it is prepped for winter.
6. Keep Flashlights At Hand
Many times during the winter season, power outages can occur. Make sure to keep various flashlights handy around your house so you can safely get around. Make sure to have extra batteries at hand. Avoid using candles as a light source as this can be a fire hazard.
7. Check Your Roof
Your roof takes the biggest brunt of the winter by having snow fall on it year after year. This can do a lot of wear and tear to your roof, so it’s extremely vital that you do annual checks before and after the winter season to make sure that no shingles are damaged or torn off, as the melting snow and rain can cause water damage.
8. Keep Your Car Safe
Your car can seem like your life-line during the winter season and is an important means of transportation to you and your family. If you are unable to keep your car/cars inside your garage during winter, make sure that when starting it for the day, it warms up for 7-10 minutes to keep the engine from freezing and the car running properly.
9. Check Your Furnace
Before you turn on your heating system for the colder months, it’s extremely important to routinely check your furnace to make sure it’s clean and functioning properly and replace or clean your filters for maximum efficiency and safety.
10. Keep Yourself Protected Too
Making sure your home is protected is important, but keeping yourself warm and comfortable throughout winter is vital. Make sure that you have the proper winter apparel and boots that will keep your feet protected from the cold and dry from the snow. Always check weather reports so you are able to properly prepare for the day. If there is a freeze warning, make sure to layer your clothing so you can take on the winter freeze.
If you unsure of what your policy covers and what protection is available or need insurance coverage, call Bedrock Insurance Brokers today to get the elite service and quality coverage you deserve! With solid rock coverage, Bedrock is the better choice.
Contact Us: 416-907-2130