Ready your furnaces and thermostats—winter is almost here! As the days get shorter and the nights more brisk, you’re no doubt beginning to think about ways to stay warm, be it pulling out the fall wardrobe or cooking hot meals. Have you considered, though, your home’s exterior? Indeed, the right renovations combined with the proper maintenance can do everything from ward off stubborn air leaks to boosting your home’s insulation abilities.
Indeed, if your energy bills are starting to soar, now’s the right time to opt for that renovation and shore up your home’s defenses before winter hits. Below, Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors, your Sauk Rapids roofing company and siding pros, describes a few home upgrades that go a long way towards keeping your family safe and comfortable when cold weather rolls in.
Roofing Keeps Your Attic Watertight
It’s not just your roofing’s insulation that keeps warm air in your home—though it indeed plays a big part in it. Your roofing material itself protects that insulation, keeping it nice and fluffy and able to do its job.
Though improper ventilation can cause your insulation to go damp, reducing its efficiency, so can roof leaks—and while sometimes these leaks can be fixed with a simple storm damage repair job, if your roof is getting up there in years or the damage is extensive, you’ll probably need to opt for replacement.
That replacement will do more than protect your insulation, though; the right roofing material can provide your home with energy savings simply through its inherent properties! For example, Fabral’s metal roofing, according to the brand’s official website, reflects the heat of the sun in the winter to help insulate your home.
And though it has nothing to do with toastiness, upgrading your roof can also help prevent mold growth from occuring in the attic, especially if you’ve already got leaks. Just think of it as an extra bonus.
Siding Helps Your Home Weather the Toughest Storms
Next to your roofing, your siding is one of your home’s biggest surface areas—and thus, potentially, one of the biggest areas that’s susceptible to heat loss. Luckily, that also makes upgrading it one of the biggest opportunities to warm up your home.
For those looking to reduce their energy bills this winter season, we recommend vinyl siding. Not only is it affordable and smart-looking, it’s been proven to actively reduce energy expenditures—sometimes by almost fifty percent! It’s also extremely durable, which makes cracks or breakages that compromise your home’s energy efficiency highly unlikely.
LP Smartside: Another Smart Choice
Vinyl isn’t the only option for those looking to upgrade their home’s defenses this fall season. LP Smartside is an amazing engineered wood siding choice for the homeowner who demands nothing but the best in weatherability from their exterior upgrades.
Designed to stand tough against everything from capricious freeze-thaw cycles to hailstorms, LP Smartside faithfully guards your family and belongings from anything that nature throws at it. This strength means your siding’s weathertight nature is unlikely to be compromised, thus safeguarding you from leaks, moisture damage, and, yes, even the cold. If siding is physically compromised, after all, of course the winter chill can seep in!
Beat Air Leaks With Window Upgrades
Does one of your home’s rooms always seem a bit drafty? Are you noticing condensation on your windows? The latter isn’t always a sign that this part of your home needs a facelift (check out our blog “Why Are my Windows Wet?” for more info), but both instances can be a sign that your windows have a broken seal. In other words, they may be actively letting cold air into your home!
Left unattended, these air leaks, as ENERGY STAR calls them, can be a major contributing factor to high energy bills. While you can caulk around your windows or apply plastic from sill to sill to stop the problem, these are temporary fixes. Not to mention that they both can look quite tacky!
If you suspect air leaks in your home from your windows, it’s best to simply have them replaced by a reputable window replacement company that understands the role they play in your home’s heat retention.
As for what type of windows you should get, as a window contractor we recommend triple-pane vinyl windows thanks to their superior insulatory qualities. As a bonus, the frames are affordable, easy to clean, and classy looking. Your home will stay warm and wow the neighbors whole doing it!
For a detailed explanation of why we prefer them, check out our blog “Why Buy Triple-Pane Windows.”
Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors: Here to Help Your Family Stay Warm This Winter
As all-around exterior experts with a nearly entirely in-house team, we’re the Sauk Rapids area’s number-one choice for vinyl siding installation, roofing, windows and more. Give us a call at 320-252-9086 today to begin preparing your home’s exterior for winter.