7 Winter Home Maintenance Tips Every BC Homeowner Should Know

1. Clean Your Gutters (Seriously, Do It)

This is the single most important thing you can do. In White Rock, South Surrey, and Langley, we're surrounded by mature trees that dump leaves into gutters from September through November. When gutters clog, water backs up under your roof shingles, runs down your walls, and pools around your foundation. I've seen $15,000 foundation repair bills that started with a $200 gutter cleaning that never happened.

Clean them at least twice in fall -- once in October and again in late November after the last leaves drop. If you have a two-storey home or aren't comfortable on a ladder, hire a local company. Most charge between $150 and $300 depending on the size of your home. It's the best money you'll spend all year.

2. Insulate Exposed Pipes Before the First Freeze

We don't get the brutal winters they get in the Prairies, but we do get cold snaps. In January 2024, parts of Surrey and Langley dipped to -15C. That's cold enough to burst pipes in unheated crawl spaces, garages, and along exterior walls. Pick up foam pipe insulation from any hardware store for about $3 per 6-foot section. Focus on pipes in your garage, crawl space, and any that run along exterior walls. If you're leaving town for the holidays, keep your heat set to at least 15C and open cabinet doors under kitchen and bathroom sinks to let warm air circulate around the pipes.

3. Service Your Furnace Before You Need It

Book a furnace tune-up in September or October, before every HVAC company in Metro Vancouver is booked solid. A professional inspection costs around $150 to $200 and includes checking the heat exchanger for cracks, cleaning the burners, testing the thermostat, and replacing the filter. A cracked heat exchanger can leak carbon monoxide into your home, so this isn't something to skip. Change your filter every 3 months during heating season -- a dirty filter makes your system work harder and drives up your BC Hydro and FortisBC bills.

4. Check Your Roof While You Can Still Get Up There

You don't need to climb on the roof yourself. Grab binoculars and look for missing, cracked, or curling shingles. Check the flashing around your chimney, vents, and skylights. In White Rock and South Surrey, the wind off Semiahmoo Bay can lift shingles that were already loose. A roof repair in dry weather might cost $300 to $500. A roof repair after water has been leaking into your attic for three months? That's $5,000 to $20,000 depending on the damage.

5. Disconnect and Drain Outdoor Hoses

This takes five minutes and can save you thousands. Water left in a garden hose can freeze, expand back into the pipe inside your wall, and crack it. You won't know until the ice thaws and water starts pouring into your basement. Disconnect all hoses, drain them, and shut off the interior valve that feeds your outdoor faucets. If you have an irrigation system, have it blown out by a landscaping company -- most charge $75 to $125 for a standard residential system.

6. Seal Drafts Around Windows and Doors

Hold a lit candle or incense stick near the edges of your windows and exterior doors on a windy day. If the flame flickers, you've got a draft. Weatherstripping and caulking cost under $30 at Home Depot or Rona and take an afternoon to apply. This is especially important for older homes in the Crescent Beach and Ocean Park areas of South Surrey, where many homes date back to the 1960s and 1970s. Sealing drafts can reduce your heating bill by 10% to 15%, which adds up fast when natural gas prices spike in January.

7. Test Your Sump Pump

If you have a sump pump in your basement or crawl space, test it before the rainy season. Pour a bucket of water into the sump pit and make sure the pump kicks on and drains the water. If it doesn't, replace it immediately -- a good sump pump costs $200 to $400. If you live in a low-lying area of Surrey like Fleetwood or along the Nicomekl River in South Surrey, a working sump pump is the only thing standing between you and a flooded basement during a heavy November rainstorm.

Consider buying a battery backup system for around $300 to $500. Power outages happen during big storms, and that's exactly when you need your sump pump the most.