How to prepare your home for winter

Preparing your home for winter is part cleaning, part protection: clear the gutters, get on top of damp and condensation, prep the heating and sort out entrance areas before the cold and wet set in. Doing the outdoor and weatherproofing jobs while it is still mild, then making the inside warm, clean and dry, keeps your home comfortable and prevents the damp and mould problems that winter brings.

Clear gutters and check drainage

Winter brings heavy rain, and blocked gutters overflow, causing damp walls and water damage just when it is hardest to fix. Clear gutters of autumn leaves and check downpipes and drains run freely. This is the single most important outdoor winter-prep job, see how to prevent gutter blockages and our gutter cleaning service.

Tackle condensation and damp early

As the heating goes on and windows stay shut, condensation builds on glass, sills and cold corners, and untreated it turns to mould. Get ahead of it:

• Wipe condensation from windows and sills each morning.
• Ventilate when cooking and showering, and use extractor fans.
• Keep an eye on cold external walls, behind furniture and in corners.
• Deal with any mould promptly before it spreads.

Prep the heating and warm areas

Before relying on the heating, vacuum and wipe radiators so they do not circulate a summer's worth of dust. Clean around fireplaces and wood burners, our stove cleaning guide helps, and bleed radiators if they are not heating evenly. Warm, clean air makes the whole home feel better through winter.

Sort out entrance areas

Winter means mud, rain, salt and grit tracked through the door. Protect floors and cut cleaning by setting up good doormats inside and out, a boot tray, and somewhere for wet coats and umbrellas. A tidy, protected entrance saves your hallway floors and a lot of mopping.

Refresh soft furnishings and bedding

You will spend far more time indoors, so make it comfortable: wash and swap to heavier bedding, clean throws and cushion covers, and deep vacuum sofas and rugs. Homes are shut up more in winter, so cleaner soft furnishings help indoor air quality.

Deep clean the spaces you'll live in

With more time indoors and the festive season coming, a deeper clean of the kitchen and living areas now pays off, inside the oven, behind appliances, skirting and light fittings. It sets you up for the busy weeks ahead, leading into our Christmas cleaning checklist.

Let us get your home winter-ready

The outdoor winter-prep jobs, gutters, windows and exterior, are exactly the ones worth handing over before the weather turns. We cover gutters, windows and full home cleaning across Derby and Derbyshire, so your home is clean, dry and ready for winter.