Preparing Your Beach Home for Fall and Winter

All houses, even beach houses, need to be prepared for the fall and winter. Yes, some people may be able to spend the fall and winter in the beach houses while others may prefer spending summers in them. No matter what, things will need to prepared and repaired.

Leaky Roof – Rain, hail, sleet, snow, or any other type of precipitation will leak through a roof and cause damage to the inside of the beach house. Fixing a leaky roof can be done within an afternoon if you know how to do it. Find the sources of the leaks, get a ladder, a crowbar, the shingles to fix the roof, roofing nails, roofing cement, and a paintbrush. Remove the shingles in the leaky area with the crowbar. Then place roofing cement on the whole area where they have been removed. Replace shingles from the top down on that area. Then secure them with roofing nails. Afterwards, paint the shingles if needed.

Gutter Cleaning – While on the roof, clean out the gutters. Falling leaves will easily block the gutters causing the beach house to become a mess. Always clean from standing on a ladder. Get a garden hoe and a trash can. Simply use the garden hoe to scrape leaves and other debris in the gutter towards you and then dump them into the trash can.

Check Windows – Clean the seals of the windows. Opening and closing windows can cause dust and other things to become lodged in the seals. This prevents the house from staying heated.

Winterize Pipes – This is easy to do if the pipes are easy to reach. In fact, reaching the pipes is going to be the hardest part of this job. Get some insulation and a razor blade. Check which pipes either need insulation or new insulation because the old insulation is worn. Simply cut the correct length of insulation and wrap it around each pipe.

Check the Deck – Take in patio furniture if it is not going to be used. Then treat the deck. Do this by pressure washing it. Let it dry for about three hours. Then rub on water sealer/protectant.

Chimney Sweep – If your beach home has a fire place and chimney, make sure to clean out the chimney so it does not stay too dirty and it can work without any problems.

Garage Door Maintenance – Check that the garage door works. If it does not, it may need repairs. Make sure it can easily open and close the way it is supposed to open and close.

Heating System Maintenance – Make sure the heating system in beach houses is properly maintained, so it can be used without any problems.

Insulation – Make sure that beach houses are properly insulated, especially if the heat is going to be on during the winter. If they are not, using the heating system is simply going to be heating the outside.

Lawn Care – The lawn needs to have leaves removed as that will not let it get what is needed and be prepared for any winter weather.

Water Heater Maintenance – Make sure the water heater works. It is not good for the water heater to not work as the weather changes can influence, so it needs to be checked with each major change of weather so it continues to work.

“Don’t Fall Behind For Winter” Trade Professional

“Prepare for Fall: 5 Home Improvement Projects” MSNBC