NJW, your Columbus, Ohio general contractors, know summer is just wrapping up, but before you know it, it will be holiday season! Get a jump start on all the things that should be done prior to the holidays arriving! Holidays mean gift giving and spending time with family and friends. Before you invite a lot of loved ones over, you may want to take a good look around your home and make sure it is suitable for visitors. Get a jump start on your holiday preparations with these tips!
When most people think of preparing their home for the holidays, they often think in terms of cleaning or setting up decorations. While those are certainly big parts of the prep-list, they really only scratch the surface of what you need to consider when hosting holiday festivities or having guests stay with you.
For starters, a regular house cleaning probably won’t cut it. In addition to traditional cleaning, you may want to think about other areas as well, such as your carpet, upholstery, and even your chimney. This is especially important if you will have visitors with allergies or respiratory issues.
In addition to having your fireplace cleaned, you may want to have it checked to see if it needs any repairs as well. Remember, it may experience extra use during this time as the temperatures dip, so before the cold season really sets in, you should get this taken care of. The same can be said of your heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. Call in a professional HVAC technician to have your unit tuned-up and serviced. The last thing you want is for your heating and cooling equipment to break down and leave your guests out in the cold!
While you are at it, you may want to consult with a home auditor to help locate any energy waste in your home. These professionals look for things such as air leaks, ventilation issues, insulation problems, and outdated appliances, all with an eye to making the temperature in your home easier to control and reduce your energy bills.
Finally, even though lately this seems FAR OFF…winterizing your home in preparation for the colder weather always makes sense this time of year, and more so if you plan on having out of town company stay with you. Cleaning and repairing your gutter and drainage system and preparing your outdoor faucets, sprinklers, and hose bibs, all fall under this category. Having a leaky roof in your guest bedroom or a frozen pipe (that could lead to a flooded basement) is something you want to avoid during the best of times, much less during the holidays.
Remember getting ahead of all these things will mean less stress for you when the things get really busy!
If you have ideas that you would like to incorporate into a home remodeling project we would be happy to help, contact us today! We currently build in Westerville, Worthington, Whitehall, Upper Arlington, Powell, Pickerington, New Albany, Lancaster, Hilliard, Gahanna, Dublin, Bexley, Columbus and all of Central Ohio.