Written by: Bob

Weatherproofing Your Home

Whether it’s blazing outside or freezing, you’ll save electricity and money if you properly insulate and weatherproof your doors, windows and venting systems. In addition to the money savings, weatherproofing your home will more than likely keep you a lot more comfortable, whether you live in Arizona or Maine during the worst that any season has to offer you.

Poperly weatherproofing your home, all you need is a little time and money spent on caulk, weather stripping, wood filler or insulation foam. Check the prices at your local hardware store on these items and you’ll be amazed at how economical they are compared to allowing that heating or air conditioning to be swept right out of your home.

Here are a few tips on how and where to use the most common types of weather proofing products out there:

Weatherproofing Your Home – Products

Caulking Use caulk to seal around outside vents, including the one that hooks to your dryer hose. Fill any cracks around outside vents that are less than ½ inch in width. You should also caulk around window trim and edgings to ensure a tight seal against drafts.

Insulation Foam Use this spray foam to fill spaces between baseboards and walls, as well as in screened patios and anywhere you feel a draft seeping in rooms from the area where walls meet floors. You can also use insulating foam to fill holes for television and telephone cables, as well as outside faucets.

Weather Stripping Every doorway that leads outside, as well as every window in your house should be sealed with weather stripping. A package usually costs around $3 and comes in a variety of widths, from ¼ inch to ¾ inch or more. The underside of window sashes should have a strip, as well as the outside edges of screen doors and sliding glass doors. For doors that lead to a utility room or a garage, make sure your threshold is weatherproofed with either weather stripping or with caulk, or with a rubber stop or gasket that can be placed against the base.

Rubber Gasket Strips Rubber gasket strips are made for the bottom and tops of garage doors, which will help keep out large drafts that find their way inside your home.

Clear Plastic Sheeting Interior sheeting kits are becoming more and more popular in cold areas of the country. This plastic sheeting, which looks like Saran Wrap, comes in a roll that you spread over your window and then attach with double sided sticky tape and then warm with a blow dryer.

Weatherproofing your home doesn’t have to be expensive, but it does need to be done if you want to save money, electricity and be comfortable no matter what Mother Nature throws at you.