Updated: Apr 7, 2021

While this is a sponsored post, all opinions are my own.

We renovated our home less than a year ago and we lived through it, with 2 toddlers, a dog and a very pregnant me! It WAS NOT fun living with plastic hanging and that cold weather kicking in! While I don’t recommend doing a major renovation in the dead of winter, what I do recommend is seriously preparing your home FOR winter, renovation or not! We came across a lot of things that needed attention or just to be thought out before we closed our home up! So, to begin, I should mention that we renovated the exterior as well as the interior; new roof, siding, built a porch and added peaks to the roofline. Below are just a few of the very important issues that arose for us!

1. Check the roof, inside and out! As I stated, we added peaks to the roofline and in doing so, also changed all of the shingles to black. We found that we needed to replace some of the plywood once they ripped off the old shingles. Now, you may not be replacing your roof, but you can certainly still check this out by going in your attic and looking at it from the inside. Check for any water stains that may indicate you have or had a leak. Something else to check for is flashing around a chimney [if you have one]. Ours was fine, but a friend of ours just bought a house and after the first snowfall was melting, he realized he had a BIG problem, as water was pouring into his master bedroom!

2. Gutters are another big thing. We replaced all of our gutters because we were told it was just easier, since we were redoing everything. Something that we added, which was a fabulous idea by my father in law, was gutter guards! These are just a mesh clip on, that lay on top of your gutters and keep all of the debris out! No more leaves, sticks or anything getting in them, to clog them up! If you don’t go this route, I would highly recommend getting up there or hiring someone to come clean them out, especially right before winter! Something that goes hand in hand is definitely keeping tree branches away from your home. Trim them back or remove them totally. They can not only cause physical damage, but also cause mold and mildew to grow because they provide shady spots, where the moisture doesn’t dry!

3. Make sure your attic fan or vent is working properly. When we redid the roof, we actually got rid of our attic fan and built in a ridge vent. This way, we didn’t need the thermostat to tell the fan to kick on to help control the temperature. The ridge vent just runs the whole length of the house, in the attic, so that the air circulates and stays regulated. If you don’t have this, make sure your fan is working properly. This will seriously help costs stay down, so your system isn’t running unnecessarily! A great recommendation is Peter’s Roofing. This Hudson County business specializes in attic fan repair and other services to make sure your roof is ready for winter and in the best condition possible. They are truly one of the most trusted and reliable companies to help when you need it the most.

4. The fireplace. We have a beautiful, dual sided fireplace, that’s the focal point of the home. I couldn’t wait to get it going for our first winter here and now we’re staring at it, looking oh so pretty and can’t use it! We obviously had a ton of construction dust from the renovation, but I cleaned it out, along with the logs. After I was done, I reassembled it and turned that baby on, so excited to sit down on my chaise, with a glass of wine and enjoy the aesthetics and warmth! Unfortunately, I smelled gas almost immediately and noticed a black substance forming on the logs. What we should have done and now will do, is call in a professional to check the fireplace, clean it and check the flu and chimney!

I hope you found these tips helpful and wish you the warmest, coziest and carefree winter yet!

Xoxo

Kelli