The winters are quite harsh in some regions of the world. In some regions, the winters are so harsh that they end up damaging the exteriors of the house. Moreover, snow accumulation, strong winds, and extremely cold temperatures can make the foundation of your house weaker.
A damaged exterior or foundation can pose serious threats to the structure of your house. Therefore, it is extremely important to take appropriate measures during winter to protect your house from the cold.
Below are a few ways of protecting your house during winter and from cold temperatures.
Snow Decumulation
If you live in a region where it snows heavily during winters, you would find snow accumulation in your driveways, lawn, or backyards. However, very few people know about the disadvantages of such snow accumulation.
If there is snow accumulation around your house, there is a risk that the foundation of your house may get weaker. This is because the moisture from the snow seeps into the existing cracks and openings of the foundation.
Further moisture may cause deeper and wider cracks, which may even lead to pest infestation.
Hence, it is extremely important to take steps for snow decumulation. This may include spreading bulk salt on driveways and verandas, snow blowers, or investing in a heated pavement.
Close Openings
Another way of protecting your house from cold is closing openings in your house. Consider having openings in your house to be closed or insulated before winter comes around. This is a good way of protecting your house from cold and ensuring that the inside of the house remains warm.
Making sure that any openings in the doors and windows are properly sealed and covered before winter arrives is crucial. Since chimneys, attics and vents cannot be closed, insulating them is a good way of preventing damage due to cold and ensuring warmth inside the house.
Protecting Pipes
During extremely cold weather, pipes that are placed outdoors freeze. Therefore, appropriate measures must be taken to prevent that from happening.
Firstly, you must make sure to disconnect faucets or water connections from the pipes that are outside your house. Secondly, you must make sure that all the water is drained out of hoses, pipes, and any other plumbing lines. This will prevent them from freezing in cold temperatures.
There would be some pipes outside that would be giving water supply inside the house. Consider insulating them before the winter season arrives to ensure a steady water supply during winter.
Stone Veneer
One of the most effective ways of protecting the house against cold is installing natural stone veneers on the exterior walls to protect against the cold. Stone veneers are pretty good heat insulators and their installation could save your house from cold temperatures.
Installing stone veneers would not only give you good protection against the cold but also enhance the beauty of the exterior of your house.
If your budget does not allow you to install stone veneers, you may consider installing them in specific areas of the house. Having stone veneers near fireplaces or chimneys would help protect your house from cold temperatures.
