How to prepare your home for winter

Sylvia Marshall DIY and renovation expert

Follow DIY and Renovation expert, Sylvia Marshall's handy DIY tips to make sure your home is ready for the colder weather.

Check your water pipes

The first check is the tank. If you have a feed and expansion tank in the loft, make sure it’s working well by moving the float arm up and down a couple of times to ensure the valve lets in, and shuts off, the water.

Next, find out where the tap is that turns off the water supply to your house. Make sure the tap works because if you do suffer a burst pipe during the winter you will need to turn it off quickly to prevent water flooding out and causing damage. (It will usually be somewhere on the ground floor of your house, maybe under the sink or stairs). Continue by checking all gate valves and stopcocks to ensure they are in good working order and can be turned off and on again in the event of an emergency.

Prevention is always better than cure so repair any dripping taps. Ensure that taps are turned off and ball valves and taps are repaired as they can cause waste pipes to freeze. If the weather is cold enough, drips can freeze up before they drain away and if left for long enough pipework can block and cause pipes to burst completely.

If you do suffer from a frozen pipe, warm the pipe gently with a hairdryer or a heat gun after opening the tap fed from the pipe. Burst pipes occur when the water expands when frozen so if there is a leak, thawing gently will reveal it sooner allowing you to mend it. If the pipes are part of the hot water system, turn off or extinguish the source of heat (immersion heater, gas boiler, coal fire etc).

Heating health check

The next consideration is heat and now is the time to ensure that you know how to use your heating system properly so that your home is heated efficiently.

Once the heat is in the house, it’s important to keep it in so make sure you have at least 270mm of loft insulation and it is laid away from the roof eaves to let in air for loft ventilation and ensure pipes and tanks are properly insulated.

If you’re going to be away for more than a few days, it’s wise to turn off the water supply and drain the plumbing system. If this is not possible ensure that there is a low background heating on in the house when you are away.

You can also pour salt down sinks, baths, and basins as this will help prevent freezing. Equally, opening your loft door will help keep the loft area, water tanks and pipes in it warm enough to prevent freezing.

October 2011