The Top 11 Ways to Weatherproof Your Home Without Going Broke

If you have never owned a home before, you might think the hardest part of the purchase was getting approved and closing the deal. It is a big accomplishment that 60 percent of Americans enjoy, but it's just the start!

To ensure your house stays in great shape for decades, it's important to outsmart the threat of weather. There are ways you can keep the structure safe while keeping costs low. Best of all, they don't need you to be a contractor to do.

Why You Need to Weatherproof Your Home

Water that enters a house without a proper system in place can accumulate, causing damage.

Water ruins furniture, attracts bugs, causes odors, rots wood, rusts metal, creates mold, and can even jeopardize a foundation. Such damages might end up costing thousands of dollars to replace. Not only that, but not everything is replaceable. Weatherproofing your house can ensure most water stays out of harm's way. Weatherproofing the home will also ensure that you and your family stay safe from the other effects of water damage. For example, if mold or mildew grow in the home, breathing it in can cause a range of health issues. These issues include problems in the respiratory system and triggering asthma symptoms. Continuing to leave the problem untreated causes more serious issues still.

Finally, weatherproofing your home helps preserve its value, which depreciates as damage accumulates. By taking advantage of weatherproofing solutions, you can keep your home clean, dry, comfortable, and safe for everyone under that roof.

You've always dreamed of this home. Now that it's a reality, it deserves all the protection that you can provide it from unwelcome situations.

Weatherproofing Windows

1. Make sure to install storm windows correctly. Especially if you have older windows, make sure the storm windows are in good function. Make sure to close them all. Storm windows provide more protection against cold winter air, too.
2. Add drapes or shades. Heavy drapes or shades also help keep the cold air out of your house. They'll also keep the drafts out of the window frame. Remember to close the drapes at night, when temperatures drop, and then open them during the day so the sun's energy warms the house.
3. Cover the inner windows with plastic. Adding plastic to the inside of your windows provides even more protection for old, drafty windows. One suggestion: Poke a little hole near the top so you can put the cord of the drapes through. This gives you the flexibility to open and close the blinds for the sun, which is great natural heating.

Weatherproofing the Doors

1. Fix leaks around your doors and windows. Not sure how to find leaks? Light a candle and walk around the windows and door frames. If you notice the flame flickering, then you know there is a draft coming in from somewhere. To patch the spots, use weather stripping or caulk as appropriate.
2. Buy door draft stoppers. Door draft stoppers are relatively inexpensive, but you can also make some yourself. Either way, put them along the outside doors so the draft doesn't sweep in from underneath.

Weatherproofing Around the House

1. Buy a water heater insulating blanket. Water heaters are fantastic for fast hot water, but lots of heat radiates away from them. Insulating the water heater with a blanket reduces that by up to 40 percent. With less heat radiating away, the heater doesn't work as hard, and that saves on energy bills.
2. Add insulation to the basement and attic. Of everything on this list, insulating an entire basement and attic will probably cost the most. But it's the one that will save you the most money. After all, a well-weatherproofed home has insulation from "head to toe." Even simply rolling extra insulation along the walls and floor will make a huge difference. The basement, however, will likely warrant the help of an experienced contractor. This is because the basement has more potential for moisture problems, which can result in mold, and high radon, which could lead to lung cancer. Greener types of insulation also exist, such as newspaper, wool, and denim; these are all free of formaldehyde.
3. Insulate all outlets. This is likely not intuitive, but electrical outlets usually don't have insulation around them. This could be a source of warm air leakage or a source of drafty air; after all, outlets are holes in the wall. To insulate outlets, use foam padding that can fit around the light switches and outlets. Remember to take extra precaution whenever you work around electricity!

Weatherproofing the Roof

1. Trim the trees near the roof. Fallen debris and limbs can leave a roof vulnerable to bad weather. Limbs damage the home if snow, wind, ice, or hail knock it down. Trimming the trees that are near your roof will let you sleep easy; you'll know that branches aren't going to fall into your home.
2. Remove dead branches and dead leaves. Likewise, rain can dam up branches and leaves in the gutters and roof, causing water to back up and cause damage. If you're in a dry part of the state, the leaves instead pose a fire hazard. Regardless, it's simply a good idea to remove these from your roof.
3. Replace damaged, missing, or curling shingles. Just one bad shingle can allow water to slip beneath the roof. Moisture that enters your home creates mildew and mold, and that costs even more than one shingle. Not only this, but hanging shingles are vulnerable to being blown away from strong winds. It's not difficult to replace one or two shingles on your own, but it's better to hire a professional. For those out in Ohio, you guys have plenty of Ohio roofing services which can evaluate the roof for anything more serious. This way, you can have an expert opinion on whether or not you need a full roof replacement.

Should I weatherproof my basement and foundation?

Improvements to your home don't need to be limited to the parts you can see. Taking the time to ensure your plumbing and wiring are protected, for example, can bring great comfort to everyone at home, even though you can't see it.

Waterproofing your foundation is one of those unseen improvements that are actually very important. Unfortunately, few people ever consider this part since it's not something that they see. The same is true for your basement.

Why should waterproof your foundation and basement? There are four main reasons.

1. It reduces the risk of flooding.

Ohio may not rain much more than average, but flooding is still a real risk to consider. It only takes one good storm to find a swimming pool in your own basement.

Waterproofing makes flooding less likely because it reshapes how water interacts with your home. For example, French drains could redirect water in several safe ways. Weatherproofing the foundation keeps water away from your home, which makes it far less likely that water enters the home at all.

2. It keeps your basement dry.

Indeed, not all homes in Ohio have a basement, but the ones that do should stay dry.

Waterproofing the foundation lets you facilitate this by reducing how much water enters your home. It functions as a waterproof barrier while diverting it away completely.

This leaves you with a basement that can be safely used for storage, recreation, or anything else. In other words, you can use your basement the way you want to without worrying that a flood will ruin everything.

3. It reduces the moisture overall.

Moisture in your home is unpleasant all around. Not only do you run the risk of water damage, but it makes the summers feel hotter, destroys paper, fosters an environment to let mold thrive, causes oxidation on metal, and just makes everything feel so much more uncomfortable.

As you might have guessed, waterproofing your foundation is the first step to reduce moisture at home. That's because water goes up as it evaporates, meaning water-logged foundations cause their homes to increase in humidity compared to those with dry foundations.

4. It keeps your home safe and protected.

By now, you've likely realized that waters and houses don't mix very well unless you control the water. This is true whether the water is inside or outside of the house.

Making sure the foundation is weatherproofed keeps water from sneaking through to your house. This stops it from warping floorboards, making the walls rot, and ruining your possessions. It stops most water from getting inside at all.

Outside the home, waterproofing your foundation ensures the ground where the foundation sits doesn't shift as much. Shifting ground can lead to more problems with the foundation, including leaks and instability.

By following these 11 tips for weatherproofing your home, you'll find you're well on your way to keeping your house valuable for years to come. Not only that, but you will likely save hundreds on utility bills each year, and tens of thousands over time—especially when factoring in appreciating the value of your home.