How to Winterize Your Rain Barrel

How to Winterize Your Rain Barrel

Hello friends. It’s Jessica, from Decor Adventures with some easy tips to get your home ready for the cooler months ahead. I’ll show you how to winterize your rain barrel, which goes perfectly with Brittany’s recent guides on ways you can keep your home warm this winter and how to protect pipes from freezing.

Rain barrels have been growing in popularity and are now a common way to save money on water use for your landscaping. They are also great for corralling water way from certain areas of your property. If you have been looking for a rain barrel, check the local environmental non-profit organizations in your area. They often sell them at a discount.

Now that winter is approaching, those barrels must get properly put away so they can last for many years to come.  We’ve been using our barrel for five years to collect water from the 1-car garage and help water the garden all summer long.

How to Winterize Your Rain Barrel

Here are a few tips on how to winterize your rain barrel:

Connection of a rain barrel to the gutters of a building can be via a few methods:

  • Gutter diverter – an attachment you can connect to a downspout to easily close off the water supply to the barrel and return it to a straight downspout once you aren’t using the barrel over the winter or when it gets full.
  • Flexible gutter – connects the downspout from the gutters on the garage to the rain barrel. These are also called flex-a-spout or vinyl elbow at the home improvement store and are very handy for diverting water in a non-straight path.

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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

Pros and Cons of 4 Types of Picture Hangers

Pros and Cons of 4 Types of Picture Hangers

Hello! It’s Jessica, from Decor Adventures and I’m back this month with some very handy tips to help hang items up on the wall. Do you ever wonder which picture hanger to use? Did you know there are several ways you can hang things up? From curtains to art and mirrors to lightweight decorations — there are many options for hanging (and sometimes you don’t even have to put a hole in your walls.)

I live in a 115 year old house that has both plaster and drywall, and I’ve experimented with many types of ways to hang items on the walls. Today I’ve compiled The Pros and Cons of 4 Picture Hangers.

1. Picture Hooks and Nails:

This is probably the most common way to hang up items. Simply mark where your item will go and hammer in your nail and hanger. Brittany shows you how to hang up items when putting together a gallery wall here.

insert-nails-into-hanger

Pros:

Hooks and nails come in many lengths so they can work well in most walls and are easy to use. They are also affordable and go into a wall quickly. All you need is a hammer.

Cons:

Hooks and nails don’t always work in every wall type and can rust. They can’t be used in plaster walls. When hanging heavier art, you need to find a stud to nail into. Read more