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Michigan’s about to go from “nice fall day” to “where’d I put the ice scraper” real quick.
21 years in the military taught me one thing: nothing leaves the ground without a preflight. Your house deserves the same before the snow flies. Here’s my checklist. None of it takes more than an afternoon.
1. Hose bibs. Seriously, do these first.
An outside spigot is one of the easiest ways to end up with a split pipe inside your wall. The worst part? You usually don’t find out until spring, when you turn the hose on and the water shows up in the basement instead of the garden.
- Disconnect every garden hose. A hose left hooked up traps water in the spigot, even on the “frost-free” kind.
- Find the shutoff valve inside. Usually it’s in the basement ceiling, right where the pipe heads out the wall. Close it.
- Go back outside and open the spigot so it drains. Leave it open for the winter.
- No inside shutoff? Put an insulated cover on it. Cheap insurance.
2. Got sprinklers? Get them blown out.
That backflow valve on the side of the house holds water too, and so do the lines in the yard. Get the system blown out before the first hard freeze. If the valve cracks, you’ll know in April.
3. Gutters and downspouts
Clean the gutters and check every downspout. Water should land 4 to 6 feet away from your foundation, not right next to it. Most wet basements I see start right here.
4. Swap the furnace filter
Cheapest maintenance in the whole house, and your furnace is about to work overtime.
5. Test your smoke and CO alarms
Furnace season is CO season. Push the button on every one. And if you just bought new construction, make sure the dust covers are actually off. Ask me how I know.
6. Walk the roofline from the ground
Missing shingles, lifted flashing, sagging gutters. Catch it now, not during a January thaw when water’s already in the attic.
Buying or selling this winter?
Snow doesn’t stop me. Every buyer inspection includes a drone roof flight, attic camera and FLIR thermal scan, plus the InterNACHI® Buy-Back Guarantee and a $3,000 warranty. Pay at close is available ($75 program fee). Selling? A pre-listing inspection finds it before the buyer’s inspector does.
— KyleKyle Winn · Owner & Inspector · PreFlight Home Inspections · 586-522-8733
