With the arrival of winter, many Do-It-Yourselfers mistakenly believe that they will have to wait for warmer months to complete home improvement or maintenance tasks. Over the years, I have found that the winter months are the perfect time for a few specific DIY projects that involve working with a home’s often neglected and over-looked ceiling area.
Installing Insulation
While you will begin to reduce heating and cooling costs the sooner that you complete this common task, winter is the perfect time to install additional insulation in the crawl space or attic above your ceiling. Most homes do not have adequate ventilation, or climate control features, in the area above the ceiling. It is simply too hot and stuffy to complete this task comfortably in the warmer months. Take advantage of the cooler temperatures and add insulation during the winter.
Installing Lighting Fixtures and Ventilation Fans, Retrofitting Homes for Electronics, Adding to or Repairing HVAC Ductwork
Adding additional insulation above your home’s ceiling is not the only activity that is best to complete during the cooler winter months. For similar reasons, it is best to wait until winter to install ventilation fans, and new lighting fixtures in the ceiling, particularly in-ceiling recessed lighting. In addition to being cooler, the winter months are darker so less light enters your home. The winter months are the perfect time to try out new lighting to make certain that you are best eliminating all of your home’s areas of low light. While newer homes often come pre-wired for electronics, and there are wireless solutions for homeowners that do not want to climb among the rafters above their ceilings or cut into their walls, winter can be the perfect time to install cables above the ceiling to retro-fit your home for an entertainment center or home office. Similarly, if you need to make a repair to any in-ceiling ductwork, the reduced temperatures of winter make it the perfect time.
Painting and Decorating
Many of us forget about the “wall” above our heads, but winter is the perfect time to try out a new color on this “wall” or simply freshen up the existing color. The cooler, darker months of winter can feel oppressive to many who find themselves indoors more often than they wish. I was surprised by how much lighter and brighter my home looked and felt once we painted the forgotten “wall” that is our ceiling one winter.
While winter is seen as the “end” of the seasons, its arrival does not have to be the end of your DIY projects.
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