24/7 Emergency Service

Weatherizing Your Home For Another Michigan Winter: A  Guide To Using CaulkWinter is almost here and now is the perfect time to consider weatherizing your home against the elements. By sealing your Metro-Detroit home with caulk, you’ll not only be preventing moisture and cold air from coming into your home, but you’ll also be keeping your hard earned energy dollars from leaking out as well.

Even the most well-constructed home is subject to settling, age and the elements, so you need to check your home annually to ensure that no cracks or openings have appeared. If they have, follow these steps to seal them back up. With little more than a caulk gun and a tube of caulk, you can seal most air leaks around cracks, gaps and joints.

Before you get started:

  • Inspect your home and mark areas that need sealed. Check windows, doors, masonry, and wooden joints very carefully.
  • Determine how much caulk you’ll need and whether or not you need multiple types of caulk. Indeed, there are both indoor and outdoor caulks available that are custom formulated for specific jobs, so be certain to pick the right one. Otherwise, the seal won’t be effective.

Now it’s time to start caulking. Here’s how you do it:

  • Clean and dry all areas that need caulked. This will help the caulk adhere to the surface. Remove old caulk, paint and debris using a screwdriver, brush, putty knife or solvent before applying new caulk.
  • Holding the caulk gun at a consistent 45-degree angle, apply a steady and even line of caulk to the cracks being sealed.
  • Check to see that the caulk adheres evenly to the entire seam.
  • Let the caulk dry, and then return to remove excess later. If the caulk shrinks, apply a second layer of caulk to completely fill in the seam.

When you’re ready to think about weatherizing your home, contact Aladdin Heating and Cooling to learn more about the energy saving services we have been providing homeowners throughout southeastern Michigan since 1945. Indeed, residents in Detroit, Dearborn, Rochester, Troy and Warren choose us because we do the best work in the area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about weatherizing your home and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Aladdin Heating services Novi, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Southfield, Oak Park, Ferndale, Beverly Hills, Berkley, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Bloomfield Twp., Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield, Madison Heights, Clawson, Sterling Heights, Warren, Troy, St. Clair Shores, Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Woods, Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Park, Detroit, Utica, Shelby Twp., Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Lake Orion, Oxford, and Clarkston.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock