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Winter prep: Time to tighten up the house for the winter

The long Thanksgiving weekend isn’t just a time for Black Friday shopping specials, college football and one more leftover turkey sandwich.

For many, it’s a four-day stretch to finally batten down the hatches at the homestead for the coming winter.

So if your fall fantasy of sitting by a roaring fire is being interrupted by a pesky draft, or your gutters are overflowing with something other than holiday cheer, now may be the time to tackle some projects you’ve been putting off.

Uncle Sam even has sweetened the pot, with up to $1,500 in federal tax credits available in 2009 for work such as installing insulation or more airtight windows. Get details on the program at www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index.

To help you get ready, we checked with some local experts to see what projects you might want to add to your to-do list.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has developed a list of local contractors who can come to your home and do a thorough energy audit, after which you can apply for a low-interest loan or rebate to help pay for the work.

Norman Jen of Jenesis Group in Chappaqua is one contractor who works through the program, called Home Performance with ENERGY STAR. After a visual inspection and taking measurements of energy-consuming appliances, he’s likely to set up a big fan at your front door to suck the air out of the house and reveal spots where air is seeping in.

"There’s lots of leaks in your house as it’s just sitting there doing its thing," Jen said.

Cracks or leaks around doors and windows account for about 21 percent of your home’s air loss, according to the federal Department of Energy.

After the audit, Jen proposes a series of conservation measures — taking into account safety issues like indoor air quality — and the homeowner chooses a package. The proposal is then submitted to the state for approval. After the work is done, the energy savings are quantified. Information is at www.getenergysmart.org.

If that goes beyond what you’re looking to do, Jen has more general suggestions.

"There are a lot of common sense things that just about everyone recommends," he said.

Seal drafty windows, clean gutters and deal with drainage issues around your home, for starters. Program your programmable thermostat to turn down the heat when your family is away or asleep. Clean your appliances, such as the coils under your refrigerator, to make them more efficient. And have your oil burner serviced, making sure to ask the service provider to check the unit’s efficiency and adjust it if it’s not working well.

If you don’t have the time, inclination or ability to do some of the small jobs around your house yourself, you can hire a handyman service like the Home Services Shop of Pleasantville. They can put in weatherstripping, caulk around the outside of vinyl replacement windows, weatherstrip doors and windows and install door sweeps.

"It keeps the cold air from coming in underneath doors," said Kurt McKinney, the vice president of the company.

One important pre-winter job is to get your gutters cleaned out to keep water from backing up under the roof line and causing wood rot and water damage inside the home, McKinney said. It’s near the end of the time when you can deal with wood rot around windows, touch up exterior painting or seal your driveway.

"It’s not too late just yet to do some power washing," McKinney said, for instance, to remove algae off walkways that might become slippery in winter weather.

If you’re looking warily at some of the large trees on your property, it might be the time to call in a tree service. While it’s not the time for routine pruning, which should take care of most dangerous limbs, there might be some branches up in the canopy that are revealed when the leaves come down, said Lauren Coats of Terrapin Tree Care of Pleasantville. And it’s a good time to take down whole trees, with winter rates lower than summer rates, she said. Trees without leaves are also easier to remove, can be chipped for mulch without leaves mixed in and don’t damage a frozen lawn when they come down. It’s also a good time to trim fruit trees, stabilize weak branches with cables and grind stumps.

"It’s good to have a meeting, walk around and talk about what could be done," Coats said.

While you’re thinking about the work to be done, you might want to check out contractors before you hire them. Go to the web site of the Westchester County Department of Consumer Protection to look up "renegade renovators." It’s at www.westchestergov.com/consumer.htm.