11 Ways to Keep Your Home Warmer | Pretty Handy Girl

11 Ways to Keep Your Home Warmer This Winter | Pretty Handy Girl

That bugger, Old Man Winter is peeking around the corner. He’s ready to put the chill in your bones and push drafts through every little crack in your home. But, you can be ready for him with these 11 Ways to Keep Your Home Warmer this Winter. Is your home truly as energy efficient and secure from drafts as you think it is? Here are 11 Ways to Keep Your Home Warmer this Winter! And, not one of them involves raising the thermostat! Click on the links to be taken to a more detailed tutorial.

Adding Foam Weatherstripping | Pretty Handy Girl

Weatherstrip Your Doors and Windows

 


Protect Spigot from Frozen Burst Pipes | Pretty Handy Girl
Protect Your Spigots

 


Make Sure Your Heat Pump is Working at Full Capacity Read more

How to Protect Your Pipes from Freezing | Pretty Handy Girl

Protect Water Pipes from Freezing | Pretty Handy Girl

In the same vein as Monday’s post about adding insulation, let’s continue preparing for winter. While you are under the house looking at insulation, take notice of your water pipes. Are they insulated too? If not, it’s important to protect your water pipes with foam insulation to prevent them from freezing.  Here in North Carolina, we’ve been experiencing more winters with temperatures dipping below freezing and sometimes in the single digits.

Having a water pipe freeze and burst is not a disaster I wish to experience. Water leaks, mold, termite damage and asbestos are plenty of experiences for one handy girl. Given my experience with water leaks, I will do everything I can to prevent future leaks (including installing water leak detectors.)

Ready to learn How to Protect Water Pipes from Freezing? This is one of the easiest tutorials I’ve written. Honest.

Materials:
(contains affiliate links)

Protect Water Pipes from Freezing | Pretty Handy Girl

Instructions:

If you are venturing into the crawlspace, protect your knees. As a brand ambassador for Duluth Trading Company, I was overjoyed to try these Duluth Trading Company cargo pants with knee pad sleeves. They are now my favorite work pants and I wear them with the inserted knee pads anytime I have to go under the house.

Protect Water Pipes from Freezing | Pretty Handy Girl

Locate any unprotected water pipes (look for copper, white, red, blue or gray pipes about 3/4 – 1 inch in diameter).

Protect Water Pipes from Freezing | Pretty Handy Girl

Measure the length of the exposed pipe. Read more

Is Your Home Ready for Winter? | Pretty Handy Girl

Is Your Home Ready for Winter? Insulation Install Tips | Pretty Handy Girl

The folks at Duluth Trading Company want you to stay warm and comfortable this winter. They have sponsored this post to help you get your home ready for winter.  And to help you stay warm and comfortable while taking on these energy conserving tasks.

Winter is fast approaching and now is the time to check the condition of your insulation. If you have a crawlspace and/or an attic, take a few minutes to check for any fallen or missing insulation. Last summer, my neighbor’s cat had a field day in our crawlspace. Luckily I found him before he was harmed. But, unfortunately he had done a fair amount of damage to the insulation in our crawl space.

Tips for Installing Insulation to Warm Your Home | Pretty Handy Girl

Not a big deal, I was able to fix and replace the insulation within half an hour. I’m no stranger to our crawlspace.  I have my go to gear when I need to go under the house.

Tips for Installing Insulation to Warm Your Home | Pretty Handy Girl

I know a lot of people would sooner poke their eyes out than venture under the house. But, I can honestly tell you that I’ve only seen one creature underneath our house and he was eager to run away from me. If it makes you feel better you can prepare before you go. Here are a few things you’ll want to have and wear:

Duluth Trading Work Clothing and Tools | Pretty Handy Girl

Materials for Installing Insulation:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Tips for Installing Insulation to Warm Your Home | Pretty Handy Girl

About Insulation and R-Values: Read more

How to Fill Holes and Knots in Wood | Pretty Handy Girl

How to Fill Holes and Knots in Wood | Pretty Handy Girl

Occasionally, you will get a piece of gorgeous wood that has voids or knots in it. You wouldn’t want to add wood putty, because it wouldn’t retain the look of the knots. But, you want a smooth surface. The solution is to fill the wood knots and voids with epoxy. The results will be beautiful and you’ll be hard pressed to find the patch afterwards.

Materials:

(contains affiliate links)

How to Fill Holes and Knots in Wood | Pretty Handy Girl

Instructions:

Begin by taping off the area around the holes, voids or knots. Press the edges of the painter’s tape down to seal it against the wood.

How to Fill Holes and Knots in Wood | Pretty Handy Girl

Remove the epoxy from the packaging. (I used Gorilla Glue Epoxy glue that sets up in 5 minutes.)

How to Fill Holes and Knots in Wood | Pretty Handy Girl

Snip or snap off the tip of the epoxy tubes.

How to Fill Holes and Knots in Wood | Pretty Handy Girl

Press the cap out of the plungers before trying to depress the plunger. Retain the cap to use if you have any leftover epoxy. Read more

2 Minute Wiper Blade Change | Pretty Handy Girl

2 Minute Wiper Blade Change | Pretty Handy Girl

Have you ever had something get stuck in your wiper and you don’t realize it until it is pouring rain. Instead of pulling over to remove the object from the wiper, I tried the old “reach out the window and flick the wiper up.” Big mistake! I ended up breaking the wiper blade off the wiper arm. Ugh. Luckily we weren’t far from home, and I was able to drive home and swap cars before driving off the road.

2 Minute Wiper Blade Change | Pretty Handy Girl

Lesson learned, next time I won’t be so lazy.

New automobiles have improved the ease with which you can change the wiper blades. In fact, it will probably take you less time to change your automobile wipers than it takes to read this tutorial. Do you have 2 minutes? Great, let’s get to it.

2 Minute Wiper Blade Change | Pretty Handy Girl

Buy a new set of wiper blades. Go ahead and splurge for good quality wipers so they won’t start squeaking in a few months. Grab a flathead screw driver.

2 Minute Wiper Blade Change | Pretty Handy Girl

Insert a flathead screwdriver under the tab on the wiper.

2 Minute Wiper Blade Change | Pretty Handy Girl

Lift up and expose the wiper arm hook.

2 Minute Wiper Blade Change | Pretty Handy Girl

Press the lever down and push the wiper in toward the arm to slip the blade off the hook.

2 Minute Wiper Blade Change | Pretty Handy Girl

Remove the broken wiper.

2 Minute Wiper Blade Change | Pretty Handy Girl

All wipers aren’t the same, so take a look at your’s. Sometimes you need to squeeze the sides or remove a small clip. Here’s a video to help you remove two different types of wipers: Read more