At Home with Yelp: Winterize Your Home

Winter is here and, for most of the country, that means freezing temperatures, wind, snow and ice. Record breaking low temperatures have already hit parts of the country this winter.  Since burying yourself under all the blankets in your house with delicious delivery won’t cut it when it comes to keeping your home ready for extreme winter temperatures, we asked our Home Expert Lauren Makk what to do when freezing weather and snow hit. It’s not only important to make sure you’re ready for the cold, but your house is, as well.

• Check your windows: Make sure your windows are not just closed but also locked to keep the warmth in your home. A cracked window can leak valuable warm air and let cold air in.
• Keep the water running: To ensure your pipes don’t freeze, keep faucets on a slow drip of warm water over night. If your pipes have frozen, or burst, it’s time to call a professional plumber.
• Flush the hot water tank – There’s nothing quite like a nice hot shower to warm you up on a cold, groggy winter morning. But like any appliance, your hot water heater needs a little TLC. Flushing the sediment out annually will help to keep your tank running at maximum efficiency all year long and improve it’s lifespan. Call a local expert today so you don’t have to worry about not having hot water on a freezing winter morning.
• Clean your chimney before the winter – Just like stocking up on firewood, chimney sweeping is a major project that should be completed before the start of each winter. Some burn logs may not be an efficient tool in getting out last years’ gunk, so hiring a chimney sweep is always a smart idea! You can search and request a quote from a local chimney expert on Yelp any time.

Interior design and life stylist, Lauren Makk is Yelp’s new Home Editor. You may recognize Lauren from TLC’s “Trading Spaces,” ABCs “FAB Life” and OWN’s “Home Made Simple.” Now as a part of the Yelp family, she’ll be sharing how you can use Yelp to create incredible, affordable transformations in your home. You can find more tips from Lauren here.