When the colder months creep in, all sorts of challenges present themselves to your home. The exterior faces the most harrowing experience, as the cold temperatures bite with no mercy. Every homeowner is wary of what might happen as a result. Roof tiles might loosen and fall off as. The gutter might flood or freeze, presenting water and dropping hazards. The driveway might become an ice rink, and now allow you to park your vehicle at home. And then, the interior challenges begin. Most likely, the first thing to be affected will be the water pipes. Suddenly, enjoying hot water becomes a privilege and not a right as a homeowner. Anyway, let's get into how you can prevent your home from getting bitten by winter’s gnashing teeth.

Will The Bite Of Winter Leave A Mark On Your Home?

The dreaded cobwebs

Bless that creepy crawlies, who are trying to hide from the cold just like we are. But, when spiders enter your home, they start to harm the air quality. Their cobwebs are harmless on their own, because they’re just made of silk. However, they are like little vortexes for dust and debris. They collect so much dust, that they begin to impact the air you breathe. Dust is just dead skin cells, but the webs will be filled with dust mites. These little critters poop as they gorge themselves on your skin flakes. But, their excrement is very irritating to your skin and especially for those who suffer from eczema.

You should get rid of these webs whenever you see them. Use a duster for hard-to-reach places such as on the ceiling. However just use a damp cloth for the rest, as dusters are difficult to clean. You can also spray corners of your home with spider repellent spray. Just make sure you allow it to set without the dog coming by to sniff and lick it!

​Signs of frozen pipes

The freezing of pipes is quite subtle. It doesn’t happen overnight as so many movies would have you believe. No, it's difficult for moving water to be stopped by growing ice, as the inertia of the water just scraps away at the ice, preventing it from building. It takes a while but it can occur if you see these signs.

• Frost. If you can see frost on your pipes, this is a bad sign. It's why you should always have insulating foam wrapped around the pipes during the fall and winter. Don’t wait for it to thaw because the pipe is frozen from the outside-in. 
  
• So, get a space heater and point it at the frozen section of plumbing. 
  
• If you don’t have that, get two buckets and fill one with warm water and pour it over the pipes. Switch buckets, putting the empty one below to catch the water, and repeat.
  

• Slow flow. If you have a trickle of water instead of normal flow, then keep the tap on as long as you can. The running water and pressure inside the pipes, is a ray of hope. If you can try to turn on the other taps even if they don’t show signs of life. The pressure will build as the open faucet demands more and more air to flow through the pipes.
  

• Leaks. The clearest sign of all that you have a blockage. If it's ice you will see all of the signs above. However, when a water pipe is leaking it because there is too much pressure and it's unevenly distributed. Try to tighten the bolt if you can but if you can’t reach it, call in an expert.
  

Dangerous loosey-goosey tiles

People often wonder if their roof tiles become loose during winter, when everything is frozen. Well, if it has been raining or perhaps the ice melts during the day and pools under a tile, it will expand and be dislodged when the water freezes again. Hence, it gets looser and eventually tumbles down. You don’t want to be leaving your home one day and be hit on the head by your own roof tile. If you know that your roof has had many tiles fall off before and you don’t feel it can survive another winter, call a roof replacement company. They have years and years of experience, making this their bread and butter service. Speak to them on the phone and explain your concerns and needs. They have a wide range of materials to choose from and they pride themselves on having industry-leading installation quality.
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Falling...gutters? 

We usually know that we should clean our gutters during the autumn. But we don’t do the same for winter. This can cause a potentially very serious problem to occur in that falling gutters become a real hazard. When your gutters are blocked, the rainwater pools and eventually spills over. If snow falls on your roof, then melts and is just pools into the gutters, this has set up the chances of a bad accident. The water will freeze and become very heavy. If you have older gutters, they won’t be able to hold the weight. As you can see this means that a large lump of ice will detach from your home, remain in the gutter, and act as a missile falling to earth. If you know you have older or damaged gutters, now is the time to replace them.

Unfreeze your driveway

Don;’t you just hate it when you can’t park your car on your own driveway because it's just covered in ice? This is why you should keep a bag of rock salt by the front door, along with a spade. You can pour rock salt over the ice and it will melt within minutes. If you can find large-holed rubber mats, place them over the top of your driveway. This way, even if the ground freezes, you will have enough grip to park and not watch your car slide off and become a runway object. 

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There are plenty of challenges that face your home during the colder months but there’s no need for them to leave their mark. Make preparations, plan properly and act quickly, and you will see this season through, unscathed. 

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