The cold winter season is just around the corner, therefore, proper preparation is essential. There are numerous tasks that you can do now to protect and prepare the exterior of your home before winter sets in.

To keep the cost of heating your home down this winter, it’s essential to keep it well insulted and sealed. Heat can be lost through cracks, damaged siding, drafty doors and leaky windows. To ensure your home stays energy efficient throughout the winter, do a thorough inspection of the exterior and use calking and weather stripping to close up any holes or gaps that might let cold air in and warm air out.

Now is also a great time to clean up and store your outdoor lawn tools and equipment, patio furniture and garden hoses. Along with emptying your garden hoses of left over water, you’ll also need to shut off the water valves of exterior faucets, so the pipes don’t freeze.

Additional tasks to do now include cleaning the gutters and cutting tree branches away from power lines, the roof and driveway to reduce possible damage by downed trees due to heavy snow and ice.