Free printable guide

Winter Home Checkup

What to check, fix and keep an eye on to get your house through winter, sorted by when you’ll need it. Right down to the first 10 minutes if a pipe bursts or the heat goes out.

  • Free
  • 11 printable pages
  • Sent by email
The cover of the Winter Home Checkup

What’s inside

11 printable pages

Each section starts on its own page, so you can print just the one you need. Anything marked Cold climates only matters where you get regular snow or weeks below freezing.

$30,000+

State Farm’s average payout for freeze-related water damage, from January 2024 to June 2025. Most of what’s in here is about making sure that never happens to you. The rest keeps your heat running and your family safe.

  1. Page 2

    Fridge card

    The numbers to know, from when to start freeze prep to how far the generator goes from the house, and blanks to fill in now, like where your main water shut-off is.

  2. Pages 3–4

    One-time upgrades

    Do these once and they pay off every winter after, in order of payoff, starting with finding, labelling and testing your main water shut-off.

  3. Pages 5–6

    Every fall, before the first freeze

    About an afternoon, once a year: test-run the heat, a new furnace filter, the outdoor faucets, the gutters and the drafts.

  4. Page 7

    Monthly while the heat’s running

    Five checks in about 10 minutes, with a log from November to March.

  5. Page 8

    When a hard freeze or storm is forecast

    What to do the day before: which faucets to drip, holding the temperature, and getting ready for a power cut.

  6. Pages 9–10

    If something goes wrong

    The first 10 minutes when a pipe freezes or bursts, the heat or the power goes out, or the CO alarm goes off. Two pages to keep by the water heater or the electrical panel.

  7. Page 11

    Spring wrap-up

    Undo the winter prep, walk around for damage, and write down what to fix before next winter.

The videos

Three jobs you can watch me do

Where a job is easier to see than to read, the page has a QR code to the video: where my main water shut-off is, picking the right furnace filter, and clearing the outdoor unit.

Jeremy in his workshop holding up a cordless drill, with the lumber rack and tool boxes behind him.

Who’s it from

I’m Jeremy. I figure things out around the house so you don’t have to start from scratch.

Homeowner, not a contractor. I put this together the way I do every job on the channel: research the options, find the smarter way, then do it on my own house.

Where the numbers come from is listed on the last page, including Energy Star, the US Department of Energy, the NFPA, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the American Red Cross and university extension services.

Questions

Before you sign up

Is it really free?

Yes. Signing up also gets you a short email each week with that week’s two videos. Unsubscribe any time.

How does it arrive?

By email. First you’ll get one email asking you to confirm your address. Click the link in it and the guide follows as a PDF.

Can I print it?

That’s what it’s made for: letter-size pages (8.5 x 11) you can print at home. Or keep the PDF on your phone.

I live somewhere mild. Is it still for me?

Yes, maybe more than anyone. Freezes do the most damage where they’re rare, because those houses aren’t built for them: pipes often run through the attic and outside walls. Anything marked Cold climates you can skip.

It didn’t arrive. What now?

Give it a few minutes, then check Spam or Promotions. Still nothing? Send me a note.

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