How to prepare for winter in Quebec?

Houses need people. They deteriorate quickly when they don’t get attention.

Take the time to protect your investment. This is the perfect time to start thinking about how to maintain your home and prepare it for the cold weather. Here are some things you can do to prepare for winter and help keep your home happy:

Check your home’s heating and air conditioning syste

Most heating and air systems generally last 12 to 15 years. You can have systems that are about dead at 10 and systems that are still solid at 20. A lot of that has to do with how they are maintained.

Paint, caulk and seal exterior wood

All wood trim on the outside of your home must be protected from the elements. The wood used on your terrace is generally a wood species treated under pressure or resistant to rot, but the wooden trim around your exterior doors and windows is just a one-inch thick pine board that deteriorates very quickly if not protected.

Replacing this trim is a significant cost and pain and even professionals can have trouble making the repair beautiful. The best thing to do is to make sure it doesn’t rot in the first place, which means keeping it painted and caulked. It’s a job that most people can do themselves if they stay on top. Once the wood is rotten and needs to be replaced, you’ll probably need to hire a good, hard-working carpenter to get the job done. So, before that happens, take the time to walk around your home and make sure that no caulking cracks and your paint doesn’t flake and flake. If so, scrape off the wrong paint or caulk and apply fresh.

Even if your deck is made of treated or rot-resistant wood, it still needs protection. You don’t need to stain and seal your deck every year, but check it to make sure it’s protected. To do this, just pour water on it. If the pearl water, then you are good. If wood absorbs water, it’s time to clean and seal your deck.

Seal your masonry and hard surfaces

Your patio also needs attention. If you have a patio, concrete aisles or walkways, make sure they are also protected. Occasionally apply concrete sealant to all flat concrete exterior surfaces. All flat concrete works eventually develop cracks. Good masons strategically place control joints in your concrete to try to limit cracks. Take the time to inspect your concrete and fill the cracks before applying the sealant so that water cannot enter and freeze during the winter. This should ensure that your costly concrete works last a very long time.

If you have an asphalt driveway, now is the time to think about closing it as well. It’s not very expensive to have a company that comes in and gives it a quick sealant spray, or you can just buy a bucket of sealant and roll it on yourself. If your entrance has developed cracks, correct them before sealing.

Check your drainage

Make sure that the soil around your foundation has not deposited, creating water zones to accumulate at your foundation. If you find a low point, just fill it with soil. Then go around and check your rain gutters. Make sure the water is moved away from the house. Add descent raltensors if necessary. A saturated soil around a foundation can create real problems as it freezes and thaws throughout the winter months.

Clean your gutters

Once the leaves are just about out of the trees, it’s time to clean these gutters. When your gutters come up, they overflow, and when they overflow, that water flows into your house, accelerating the deterioration of your exterior. It can also lead to the deterioration of your foundations, the infiltration of water in the basement and the settling under your porches and concrete walks, which creates all kinds of problems.


Clean your fireplace and order firewood

Have your home cleaned and inspected before you start building these cozy lights over the next two months. A good chimney sweeping company will ensure that the fireplace is safe to use, and it can also identify maintenance problems. It is also time to order this load of firewood. Take the time to stack and cover this wood in a good location in the yard. Make sure the old firewood isn’t rotten and keep it away from your home.

Test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors

Winter is when most house fires occur. This is the time of year when we blow up the oven and build fires. We are also much more likely to have our house sealed tightly, so carbon monoxide is a much greater hazard. Check all your smoke detectors to make sure they are working and have good batteries. If your home is not equipped with carbon monoxide detectors, consider purchasing them.

Turn off the pool and sprinkler system and drain the outside taps

Make sure your pool is properly closed and prepare the system for winter. I think it’s worth having an expert inspect and shut down the system, even if you’re a doer for the rest of the year.

Make sure your sprinkler system is properly shut down for the season. Most sprinkler systems require pipes to be blown.

Your outdoor water tap is absolutely not protected from the elements. You can simply close the water valve to your outside tap, then go outside and open the outside tap valve and let the water drain out of the pipe. Now, if the water in it freezes, it has plenty of room to expand without breaking pipes or joints. Leave the water turned off at the tap until you need to use the hose next spring.

Check your trees

Before all the leaves fall, take a look at your trees and make sure they are always healthy, especially the trees that might fall on your home or a neighbour’s. Fall is not a good time to cut down your trees, but if there are branches against your home, it’s a good idea to cut them before winter so you don’t have branches covered with ice against your siding or windows.


Make sure your attic doesn’t become a bug hotel

It will be cold and your attic is the perfect winter home for squirrels and birds. These creatures can cause a lot of damage and potentially health problems. Make sure your trees are well trimmed away from the house and make sure your gable vents are intact. Make sure there are no holes that will allow birds to enter.

Do a quick energy audit

If you’ve never had one, a professional energy audit is a good investment. But autumn is also a good time to check your door seals. Make sure you don’t see daylight around your exterior doors, and grab a can of powdered foam insulation and fill around these outlets with drafts and light switches.

Prepare your expensive lawn and garden equipment

Before storing your lawn equipment for the season, drain the gas. Gasoline is bad, and in the spring, the old gas can make your fuel filters go up and make your equipment sick. I put my barrel of gasoline in my vehicles and I get fresh gasoline in the spring. You can also simply put a fuel stabilizer in the gas if you want to keep it handy.

Cover your patio furniture

Protect your patio furniture, but be sure to wait a clear and warm day to cover it so as not to trap moisture.


Preparing for snow removal

Dig up the snowblower and turn it on. Make sure it’s ready for use. If not, get it fixed now. Also make an inventory of your salt and shovel situation. You know you can’t find a shovel after the big snowstorm.

Think about your children

Having fun during the winter will not always be easy for your children, especially if you don’t want them to spend all their days in front of screens. What’s better than toys? Remote-controlled toys are available in a wide range of sizes and costs to suit any buyer. The range begins with low-budget models and extends to very detailed replicas of a wide range of vehicles.