🧰the pre-winter checklist, ranked by what skipping it cost me

In order from most expensive mistake down to the ones that just take five minutes. Half of these I only added after they went wrong once.

Insulate the pipe under the kitchen sink where it runs along the exterior wall

Skipped this in year two. It split in January and cost me $640 between the plumber and the drywall patch. Never again.

Clean the gutters before the first hard freeze

Left leaves in there one fall and got an ice dam that pushed water through the hallway ceiling. Worst line item on this whole list.

Have the furnace actually serviced, not just a filter swap

The tech found a cracked heat exchanger last year during the inspection. Skip it and you find out at 2am when the CO detector goes off.

Test every smoke and CO detector and swap the batteries

Disconnect and drain the outdoor hose bibs

Split one behind the garage the year I forgot. The foam covers are $2 each, a burst spigot is not.

Find the main water shutoff valve and make sure it still turns

Mine was painted shut from a previous owner's paint job. WD-40, a wrench, and twenty minutes of swearing.

Re-run rope caulk around the old aluminum windows

measure twice before you cut the caulk cord, it's annoying to redo once it's stuck down crooked

Check the attic insulation depth and top it off if it's thin

Reverse the ceiling fans to spin clockwise on low

Trim the branch hanging over the garage roof

It came down in a windstorm two winters back and took a gutter section with it on the way.

Cover the outdoor faucets with foam covers

Replace the furnace filter and write the date on it

I use a sharpie now because I never remember otherwise.

Scan the roof from the ground with binoculars for lifted or missing shingles

Drain and coil the garden hoses for storage

Caulk around the dryer vent and any pipe penetrations on the exterior wall

Vacuum the dryer vent duct itself, not just the lint trap

Found an actual bird's nest in mine one year. Ten-minute job that prevents a real fire risk, worth doing every fall.

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