Is Your Home Winter-Proof?

Don’t let your home get the winter blues. As the cold weather approaches, home owners can do the following maintenance checks to ensure their properties are ready for the winter months. The real estate Web site Zillow offers some of the following tips:

• Check the weather stripping along your door and door frame to ensure there are no gaps that can let cold air seep into your home. Also, you may want to add weather stripping or caulk to your windows to prevent any drafts and wasting energy. Read more

Horrors! Scenes from a Home Inspector’s No-No Book

As a home inspector, once you step foot inside a home to inspect it for a customer, there’s usually a surprise or two awaiting. Because when a homeowner faces an “issue,” they take it upon themselves to fix it. There are good fixes, workarounds and then jury rigged solutions that are just plain bad ideas for a number of reasons, but mostly because they are dangerous.

Here’s a glimpse of some of the most notoriously silly things ever attempted on homes that were in need of repair. In other words, here’s a round-up of what NOT to do. Read more

10 Home Winterization Musts

It’s been a mild winter throughout most of the country so far. That means we still have time to run through a foul-weather checklist. Here are 10 “must do’s” to have a warm, cozy and safe winter.

1. Check attic insulation. A foot of blown-in or batt insulation (R-38) in the attic reduces heat transfer from heated interior space to the great outdoors. This is a do-it-yourself job. If your attic is not insulated, blow in or roll out 12 inches of loose or batt insulation. If the amount of insulation is less than 12 inches, simply roll out unfaced fiberglass batts over the existing insulation to create a heavier thermal blanket. This is a case where more is better. Make sure to leave soffit vents unobstructed. Read more

How to Prep Your Fireplace for the Cold Season

Things to Know Before You Spark Up the Logs

With natural gas and propane prices continuing to rise, you’ll likely be looking to the old fireplace this winter to help cut your home-heating bills. But before you spark up the logs, take heed that fireplaces and chimneys are involved in 42 percent of all home-heating fires. So first make sure yours is up to snuff by following these seven safety tips. Read more