Exterior winter maintenance tips for homeowners & landlords
Marie, Maintenance Manager at CPS Homes, provides some useful tips for homeowners and property investors to consider if they want to better protect their home against the harsh winter weather...
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
The winter weather brings a whole host of potential issues that can cause a lot of costly harm to your home or rental property if you’re not careful. Some things can’t be avoided but failing to deal with a problem or not spotting it to begin with can lead to problems worsening.
Blustery winds, heavy rainfall, snow, ice - this winter weather can all lead to tiles falling off the roof, pipes freezing up, guttering being blocked up with soggy leaves. You get the idea!
This is why it can be a good idea for homeowners and landlords to stay ahead of the winter season by preparing and protecting their property as well as they can - and by regularly checking for potential hazards or new problems that had so far gone unnoticed throughout the winter months.
Below we’ve highlighted some important exterior maintenance jobs outside the property that you may want to get on top of before the winter really kicks in.
Maintenance outside the property
The outside of the property is where many problems arise as this is what is directly exposed to the weather. If you’re a landlord, you’ll be responsible for most if not all of the exterior maintenance of the property.
Read: 6 tips to help landlords reduce long-term maintenance costs
Things you should check for around the exterior of the property include:
The roof and guttering
If there are missing roof tiles that go unnoticed or unrepaired, this can cause long-term structural problems that are very expensive to rectify. Even a small number of missing or damaged tiles can lead to leaking and interior damp - something neither you nor tenants will not want to experience.
Gutters are exposed to leaves and other debris being blown into them thanks to that blustery winter wind. If gutters block up, which they often do, this can lead to water damage. It’s a good idea to clear your gutters regularly - at least a couple of times a year. A lot of the leaf fall occurs during the autumn, so clearing the gutters out towards in the middle of autumn and at the beginning of winter would be a sensible approach to nullify the chances of the gutters blocking.
Exterior cracks
Moisture can find it’s way inside the property if there are any cracks, crevices or gaps in the exterior walls, which often results in damp and mould issues on the interior walls and ceilings inside the property. Regularly inspecting areas that are prone to cracks or gaps, such as air leaks around windows and doors or the exterior surface of the properties walls, can help you tackle the issue before it gets out of hand.
Read: Preventing condensation mould
The garden
Garden maintenance is something homeowners tend to either love or hate. Landlords usually leave general garden maintenance as the responsibility of their tenants, but if you go through a void period before or during winter, then it’ll fall on the landlord to keep it in good order before a new tenancy begins. If there are repairs that need to be carried out, then this may also be the responsibility of the landlord to take care of. Typical issues that can arise in the garden during the winter include fences breaking apart or falling down, trees and branches falling or hanging dangerously, and sheds or other outhouse areas becoming unstable.
Read: Landlords - how to maintain the garden in your rental property
Pipe maintenance
Water expands when it freezes in cold temperatures, and this is one of the most common causes for burst pipes in the winter. To prevent your properties pipes from bursting due to water freezing, check that the pipes are all well insulated and are free from cracks. It’s also important to ensure the boiler is regularly serviced. If you have a rental property with a void period, the pipes will be particularly prone to freezing due to lack of use, so if may be a good idea to set the property to run the heating at a low temperature at certain times of the day - maybe overnight when temperatures drop to their lowest.
Chimneys and fireplaces
If your property happens to have a working fireplace with a chimney, you may want to consider having it professionally cleaned by a chimney sweep before the winter sets in to clear it of any debris. A build up of debris in the chimney can increase the risk of a fire hazard.
For interior winter maintenance tips for homeowners and landlords, be sure to check out our next upcoming article!
Here at CPS Homes, our knowledgeable team of real estate experts help buyers, sellers, renters, and landlords alike with their property or investment journey in Cardiff. To learn more about how we can help you with your journey, don’t hesitate to get in touch by calling 02920 668585, e-mailing enquiries@cpshomes.co.uk or by popping into one of our three Cardiff based branches.
The information contained within this article was correct at the date of publishing and is not guaranteed to remain correct in the present day.
