Tips for protecting your home during the deep freeze

• Make sure downspouts are carrying water away from the house, at least 10 feet from the structure to avoid water damage or ice forming.

• Temporarily cover any vents around your home's foundation.

• Insulate your outdoor water meter box and be sure its lid is on tight

·       Revere your ceiling fan! By reversing its direction from the summer operation, the fan will push warm air downward and force it to re-circulate, as you look up, make sure the blades turn clockwise.

• Finally, be sure everyone in your household knows where the main water shut-off valve is and check to make sure it isn’t stuck!

Happy Holidays

Have a great first week of Winter and Happy Holiday Season from all of us at Fauser Home Improvement. Give us a call for a FREE ESTIMATE 309/792-3122.

Protect the Exterior of your Home from Extreme Cold

Extreme cold weather can be hard on your home. Here are some tips to put into practice when freezing weather, snow, and ice hit.

• Check your pipes to the laundry area, people forget your washing machine pipes can also freeze! Use a hair dryer, heat lamp, electric heat tape, or a portable space heater to thaw frozen pipes that have not burst.

• Stay off your roof during freezing weather, but once the ice and snow have melted, inspect your roof for any damage.

• A chain saw can come in handy for removing broken limbs after an ice storm.

• Keep the attic well ventilated. The colder the attic, the less melting and refreezing on the roof. Keeps the attic floor well insulated to minimize the amount of heat rising through the attic from within the house.

Protect the Exterior of your Home from Extreme Cold

Extreme cold weather can be hard on your home. Here are some tips to put into practice when freezing weather, snow, and ice hit.

• Check your pipes to the laundry area, people forget your washing machine pipes can also freeze! Use a hair dryer, heat lamp, electric heat tape, or a portable space heater to thaw frozen pipes that have not burst.

• Stay off your roof during freezing weather, but once the ice and snow have melted, inspect your roof for any damage.

• A chain saw can come in handy for removing broken limbs after an ice storm.

• Keep the attic well ventilated. The colder the attic, the less melting and refreezing on the roof. Keeps the attic floor well insulated to minimize the amount of heat rising through the attic from within the house.

How and Should you Remove Snow from your Roof?

Snow up to a point is good for your heat bill as it does add an insulating factor but there can be a point where there is too much snow. How much is too much? About two feet of snow is too much!  Although most roof’s in the Quad Cities area were built with the weight of snow in mind. Problems can occur if it rains when there is a lot of snow on the roof. The snow absorbs the water and gets a lot heavier. You can buy a “roof rake” at most home improvement stores and pull down the snow near the eaves. That will usually be enough to let water run off the roof.