During the cold winter season while the inside of your home remains cosy and warm, your garden and home exterior are left to fend for themselves against the harsh winter weather.
The spring season will reveal the damage that has been done to your home exterior and the extent of the repairs that will be added to your list of jobs going into the following months.
Here are some of the most common causes of damage to your home exterior during winter, how you can seek to prevent winter damage to the outside of your home and what you can do to refurbish any damage to keep it looking in top shape for the coming spring and summer months.
Fence Damage from High Winds:
People living in particularly high wind areas will be no stranger to a cracked fence, missing panels or even an entire fence being blown down. Not only can this ruin the aesthetic of your garden, but also compromise the security of your home.
However, repairing your fencing can be made a simple task. You will need to assess the damage to your fencing and judge whether the missing fencing can be put back into place, or if it is damaged beyond reuse and needs to be replaced.
If you can reuse the fencing or panel that has been blown out of place, you will need to use a drill to secure the fencing back to its original place. Finding out which impact driver you need will allow you to easily install screws and repair the fence, while also being less likely to strip screws when drilling them, allowing for more precision and a stronger connection that will help to prevent further wind damage to your fencing.
Cleaning and Clearing Gutters
Due to the higher levels of rainfall and snow in the winter season, the gutters surrounding the roof of your home will face more wear. This can lead to a broken or faulty gutter system which will not filter the excess water that comes into contact with your roof, which over time this can bring problems such as roof damage and water leakage into your home.
To ensure that your gutter system remains functional and prevents any roof damage, it is wise to regularly clean out your gutters. The best way to do this is by getting hands-on and using a ladder to access the gutters of which then you can remove any blockages and build-up.
After a night of heavy snow or freezing cold temperatures, you should check that your gutters have not been either blocked with snow or frozen shut with ice. This will temporarily hinder the filtration from the roof of your house, often during weather conditions where you need them to be working at their best. A build-up of snow and ice also has the capacity to severely weigh down gutters and either damage them or pull them down from the roof, which will be more costly to get fixed.
Cracked Paint
Whether it is newly painted fences or that exterior wall that just got a new coat, the cold and wet winter conditions can cause paint to crack and go dull over time.
To refurbish your exterior wall and fence paint back to new, make sure you use a good outdoor paint that is highly resistant to harsh winter temperatures, exterior paint is more durable than regular paint, allowing it to last for longer outside and provide more protection against cold and wet weather.
