How To Weatherize Your Home With Caulk

With seasons changing, it's a good time to look at weatherizing your home. Whether you live in a single-family home, a multi-family property, or a condominium, your home has windows and, through those windows, air escapes.

Even with your windows closed.

In this brief tutorial from Lowe's, you'll learn how to use caulk to seal the gaps between your windows and doors and their respective framing to keep your home's inside air in, and the outside air out.

Weatherizing your windows and doors is a 3-step process:

1. Find the air leaks
2. Clean the surface of existing caulk and debris
3. Seal surface with new caulk, and clean-up

As shown by the video, there are no technical skills required to repair and replace your home's caulking. It may require a little bit of elbow grease, however. And, depending on your windows' locations, use of a ladder may be required.

If you'd like professional help weatherizing your home, please ask me for a referral in Temecula.

How To Find Air-Leaking Windows And Seal Them

Preventative care will minimize your home repair costs and, at this time of year, it's a good idea to sweep your home's exterior for sign of air leaks and drafts around windows.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, drafty windows can account for 30% of a home's heat loss in winter so it's best to find them, and seal them.

In this 4-minute video from the DIY Network, you'll learn how to identify your home's leaky windows, and how to seal them with caulk. The job requires a little bit of elbow grease, but it's manageable for even the notice handyman.

Some of the tips include:

• How to use a lit candle to find windows that leak air
• How to remove existing caulk using caulk softener
• How to "push the bead" of caulk for proper application

The video concludes with a brief tutorial on setting your home's programmable thermostat so, when taken with the window caulking exercise, homeowners in Temecula could stand to save a bundle on their winter heating bills.

How To Re-Grout And Caulk Bathroom Tiles

Over time, the grout in a shower can become dirty and discolored, and start to separate from its grout lines. This is a potentially dangerous condition for a home because broken grout lines allow water to seep into the walls, which can then lead to the growth of mold spores.

Fortunately, keeping your grout in tip-top shape is simple.

In this 2-minute video, you'll learn how to clean the existing grout in your shower and to prepare for a new coating. You'll also learn how to replace its caulk.

The video's tips include:

• Why you should remove excess grout diagonally with a sponge
• How to protect your tub from damage while the re-grout is in process
• Choosing the right caulk for the job

The North American Tile Cleaning Association also offers helpful grout-cleaning advice. Visit their website at http://www.tilecleaning.org.