Old Man Winter will be here before you know it. How prepared is your home for its arrival?

The Insurance Information Institute offers some tips on how you can best protect your home this winter:

1. Add extra insulation to your home. 

– Roof damage is often caused by too much heat escaping through attics, basements, and crawl spaces. This heat can cause extensive damage to the roof of your home by causing snow and ice to melt, which leads to more ice build up later. 

2. Be sure to service your furnace, boiler, and chimney.

– These items should be serviced at least once each year to prevent damage from fire and smoke. 

3. Install an emergency pressure release valve.

– This will help control the increased pressure caused from pipes freezing, and will prevent them from bursting.

4. Paint a plastic coating on all internal basement walls, and be sure to install sump pumps.  

– These items serve as precautionary measures to prevent flooding from melted snow and ice run-off.