Winter

The season of holiday festivities and cold weather has arrived. Good thing we did our pre winter maintenance. Oh, there still may be those situations that come up that are totally out of the control of the homeowner such as power outages, devastating weather conditions, heating equipment failure, etc. But for the most part, you can relax in the comfort of knowing your home will provide you with the warmth and comfort you expect. There are still some areas that will need attention however.

The following items are the homeowner’s responsibility.

• Set the thermostat control to the “heat” mode at this time.
• Remember to change the furnace filter every 30 days.
• If you depend on heating fuel being delivered by a supplier such as heating oil or propane gas, keep track of your usage even though you are on an automatic delivery schedule and contact the supplier if you notice you are getting low.
• Make sure the draft in the fireplace or wood stove flue is in the “open” position prior to starting a fire.
• Remove excessive amounts of snow and ice from the roof system.
• Salt and calcium products are harmful to concrete surfaces as well as asphalt driveways and should not be used for snow and ice removal.
• Low or stopped water pressure may be evidence of water line freeze up. The homeowner is responsible to maintain suitable temperatures in the home to prevent freezing. Contact IntegraTech if freeze-up is due to improper insulation during he contract period.

If you intend not to be occupying your home during the winter (such as a summer home) the home must be properly winterized or periodically checked to make sure a reasonable temperature is maintained. Leaks occurring due to homeowner’s neglect and resultant damage are not the responsibility of the builder.