Winterize Your Home: When to DIY and When to Hire Another Guy

As a homeowner, preparing your property for the harsh winter months can help prevent more dramatic renovation costs down the line. Preparing your plumbing, checking your roof, sealing windows, and stocking up on winter home essentials are all ways people prepare for the cold weather, but sometimes the jobs add up to more than just that.

Unless you have an endless supply of time and the confidence of expertise to tackle any home repair project, you may want to hire people to help winterize your home. On the other hand, conquering smaller chores yourself can help save money and give you a feeling of accomplishment. Below are some of the most necessary winterizing tasks for homeowners and our opinions on whether to DIY or hire another guy.

Pipes and Irrigation Maintenance

When water sits in your pipes or irrigation system, it risks freezing when the temperatures drop. When your pipes freeze with water in them, they risk expanding, cracking, and rupturing pipe walls. This leads to problems with your home’s plumbing overall and can cost thousands to fix. Depending on where you live and the type of sprinkler system your house has, there are different ways to remove water from your irrigation. There aren’t as many ways to winterize pipes, but it can still be a time-consuming process. Furthermore, if you don’t get it completely right, you risk leaving amounts of water that can freeze left behind. In our opinion, it’s best to hire a professional to do this job.

Verdict: Hire another guy.

Insulate Garage

Your garage lets a surprising amount of warm air escape from your home’s HVAC system, which can raise your utility bills while making your home less comfortable. To keep air in, insulate your garage with fiberglass batt insulation. Fiberglass batt insulation is inexpensive yet effective– music to a homeowner’s ears. Working with this kind of insulation takes a certain amount of skill, and the materials themselves can be quite hazardous, especially if inhaled. That’s why we recommend hiring someone else to do this important winterizing task for you.

If you want to DIY something in the garage, fill in cracks along the walls and seal windows with caulk. It’s an easy, quick project that can save you money on heating bills.

Verdict: Hire another guy.

Protect Plants and Flowers

With all the work you put into your garden during the warmer months, you don’t want your plants and flowers to suffer in winter. There are various ways to protect your garden before the freezing temperatures start:

• Add new mulch around flowerbeds and trees
• Wrap tree trunks with burlap
• Invest in covers that can keep plants warm in cold environments

Once the cold weather sets in, bring potted plants indoors to keep warm. Set them up in an area with sunlight to ensure they don’t wither away. Before a freeze, water your plants to help protect the roots and keep them from dying. Winterizing your garden is a constant process, but the tasks themselves are not difficult. That’s why we say go ahead and DIY this one.

Verdict: DIY

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As a homeowner, the upkeep, maintenance and home cleaning of your house is a constant in your life. Taking care of little things now can help prevent catastrophic costs down the line. Sometimes the best way to go is to do-it-yourself, but some tasks are best left to professionals. When winter rolls around, your home is susceptible to many cold weather damages. Protecting your pipes and irrigation can prevent plumbing damages. Insulating your garage will keep heat in and regulate power bills. And protecting your plants from freeze will help preserve the work you did all spring and summer. Whether you choose to DIY or hire another guy, doing these things before winter will help keep your home in shape for the colder months.