Weatherproof Your Home

This should ease your general fuel bill and you will probably keep much warmer and also avoid unnecessary insurance claims.

Remember, if you make a claim then your house insurance premium will almost certainly increase the following year. Therefore it makes sense to keep weather damage to a minimum.

Winter is the time when, like the squirrels, we retreat to the warmth and safety of our homes, but before doing so there are some essential checks that the weatherproof system is secure.

With home emergencies, prevention is certainly better than the cure, and many insurance claims could be avoided if householders spent a small amount of time preparing for any coming bad weather.

Some of these tips are quite elementary, but it is surprising how many sensible, intelligent folk don't realise what damage bad weather can do.

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Outside:

1. Check the condition of the roof. A pair of binoculars may come in handy here. Look for cracked or broken tiles, cracks in the chimney or problems with the pointing. If any repairs are needed, hire a professionaland reputable roofing contractor to carry out the work as soon as possible. This is a No.1 priority weatherproof job that should not be neglected.

2. Clear the gutters and drain pipes of any leaves or debris that has built up. This reduces the risk of blockages and overflows. An easy weather proof tip that could save you very large bills.

3. Cut back low hanging tree branches that could cause damage in high winds or storms.

4. Check boundary fences and posts, also any brickwork that is showing signs of age.

5. Make sure you park your car either in a garage or away from large trees.

6. Cavity wall insulation is another method for retaining heat inside the home and will save money.

7. Make sure all out-door items such as picnic tables, sheds, barbecues, bikes and other garden furniture items which can be open to weather damage during a storm are stored away in a secure manner.

8. If you live on a windy site, tie your dustbin lid to one of the side handles with a long piece of cord. This saves a hunt and search when the wind has subsided. If your dustbin is the old fashioned metal type, this also eliminates a crash and clatter during the night or whenever. This tip has nothing to do with warmth, but having been hit in the face by a flying metal dustbin lid during gale force winds, it saves potential injury.

9. Not exactly a weatherproof job - more a maintenance tip. Remove clinging ivy from the brickwork where is can cause damage to soft mortar. Save yourself the job of re-pointing.

10. Remove moss from tiles if you possibly can. Moss traps moisture and can cause frost damage in winter.

11. Although this site Maintain Youir Building is primarily concerned with period properties if offers great advice that applies to buildings of any age.

Inside:

11. Have your boiler serviced once a year by a CORGI registered gas professional and have the central heating and gas fires checked to ensure they are working safely and efficiently. Not a weatherproof job, but definitely a safety job. 12. If you have an oil fired system then a yearly check by an oil heating engineer is advised. In both these cases, ask around and see what you can learn as to the experience and capabilities of the people offering their services.

13. Check that the loft is insulated properly but also has adequate ventilation. In the UK there are Government grants available to certain sections of community Home Insulation Grants may help here. Around 15% could be shaved off your heating bill with 270 mm thick-loft insulation. This will really help keeping the effects of cold weather out and definitely rates as a weatherproof job.

14. Double- glazing is an absolute boon. It keeps the heat in and the noise out. Even secondary double-glazing will make a difference to the effects of the weather outside. This type of double glazing is easy to take down during the summer and also makes cleaning easy.

15. If your double glazed window should take a 'hit' from a stone and starts collecting moisture between the glazing, do not despair. Hunt around locally for a company that deals with this sort of problem. Often it can be rectified if the problem is not too severe.

16. Thick curtains will help to keep more heat in the home. An interlining will be an advantage

17. Keep the central heating set to 10 degrees to prevent pipes from freezing. This is important should you be away from home during the winter. A weatherproof job for the benefit of your house and your pocket.

18. Fit an internal seal to your letterbox. Do not use the metal flap type as this is soon knocked off if the paper-boy/girl has a huge bundle to push through. Fit the type that has two sturdy rows of bristles covering the gap.

19. Fit draft excluder to all opening windows. Don't neglect to check all your doors as well.

20. Often forgotten - if you have an outside door with a mortice type lock, leave the key in the keyhole, this will stop another draft. Don't use this tip if there is a panel of glass in the door - burglars could smash the window and use the key to enter!

21. Make sure you know how to turn off your electricity, water and gas supplies. You may need to turn these off during a storm. If you have already made one insurance claim for e.g. a video recorder or similar because of an electricity surge during a storm, your insurance company are unlikely to view a claim for a second machine in a favourable light. (excuse the pun)

22. Remember to keep a torch handy in case of a power cut. If you use candles don't leave children in charge of these.

23. If you can, throw a blanket over your freezer to help retain the cold temperature. This will make your food last longer. Leave it in place for an hour or so after the power is restored.

24. Remember a Sani-flow unit should not be used during a power cut.

25. After the storm blows over. Snow and freezing temperatures can cause damage to plastic guttering. Plastic gutters and downpipes can shrink out of their joints. Check that adjoining sections of pipe/gutter have not sprung apart. Also make sure the heavy winds have not blown debris into the gutter.