Creative Ways to Winterize Your Home!

With temperatures already below freezing in most of the parts of the country it is time to start prepping your home for the winter months to come. One of the most cost effective ways to keep warm during the winter months is make sure your windows and floors are properly insulated. I have several fireplaces I keep active throughout the winter season, so I know the importance of keeping seasoned firewood dry and ready to burn during the winter months ahead. I found several creative ways to take scrap from the office and winterize my home!

Prepping Your Firewood Rack for Snow

Supplies:

• Outdoor Firewood Rack
• 2 Ultra Premium Rug Pads Cut to the Size of Your Rack
• Firewood

If you have a fireplace in your home, you understand the importance of having seasoned, dry wood all winter long. While it easy to purchase or chop your own firewood for use at home, it is often difficult to find a dry space to store the wood once it has been chopped. While certain outdoor log racks come with covers, these covers can sometimes be insufficient. I noticed with my outdoor log rack, that my cover was not doing enough to protect the wood from the elements. Every time it rained, water seemed to go right through the cover, leaving my perfectly seasoned wood soaked through.

Working for Rug Pad Corner, I always have rug pads on my mind! I came up with the idea to use our Ultra Premium rug pads to protect my wood from the elements. I simply measured the area of the base of my log rack and cut two Ultra Premium rug pads to fit the area. For the bottom of the log rack I rolled out one of the Ultra Premium rug pads with the purple side facing down. Next, I stacked my firewood on top of the rug pad. The Ultra Premium was perfect because the felt side secured the firewood in place and will absorb any moisture. Once I was done stacking my firewood, I rolled out the second Ultra Premium rug pad on top of the stacked wood with the purple side facing up. The purple side is great for deflecting water and will help to keep any snow or rain from soaking my wood. Next I placed my existing log rack cover back over the wood. The Ultra Premium pad is great for keeping my existing cover in place and providing added protection from inclement weather. Since I winterized my firewood rack, it’s been put to the test with several rainstorms and a snow storm; my firewood has been completely protected from the elements, ready to keep me warm all winter long!

Winterizing Your Windows With Rug Pad Scrap

Supplies:

• Mounting Tape
• Ruler
• Superior Rug Pad Scrap
• Scissors

One of the biggest areas where homes lose heat in the winter is through the windows. While some newer homes come with storm windows or energy efficient windows, most windows will not protect from dropping temperatures. I live in a home that was built in the 1700’s so insulation is lacking in many parts of my house, especially the windows. Unfortunately, because of the unique size and set up of our windows, it is extremely expensive to order custom storm windows. I started looking for other options that might be less expensive. One common option is to use insulating plastic. I didn’t want to cover my rustic, quaint windows with plastic!  That is when I started to experiment with rug pad scrap to see if I could find a subtle way to insulate my windows without taking away from the overall look of my house. I realized by using our Superior rug pads to seal the seams of our windows, I could reduce the amount of heat that escaped through the windows and ultimately save a lot on my heating bill.

I started off by measuring my windows to determine the amount of rug pad scrap I would need. I have french casement windows that open inwards, so there is one long seal in the middle of my windows that is always letting out heat, so I had to be sure to measure a piece that would cover that seal. I measured the length and width of my windows, along with the seals between the windows. For a demonstration of how to properly measure your windows check out the video above. Next, I measured and cut my Superior rug pad to fit along the seams of my windows. I cut a piece that covered the length of my window and about 2.5 inches in width. That way, the strip I cut could hang slightly over the seam of my window and prevent cold air from coming in. What I ended up with were thin strips of rug pad that would cover up the cracks in my windows without being visible from the inside. Once you have cut your Superior rug pad, apply mounting tape to the felt side of each rug pad strip. The felt side should face in when attached to your window and the smooth side should face towards the outdoors. Next, adhere the rug pad strip to the part of your window that faces outside. If you have windows like mine, be sure to attach your strip to the window that closes first! It will create a seal that traps the heat in and keeps the cold out! Repeat this process for all the windows in your home and you will immediately notice a difference!

Using Rug Pads To Insulate Your Floors

The most common way to use rug pads for insulation is by adding them to existing area rugs. I placed our thickest rug pad under the area rug in front of one of my fireplaces. I used our Superior rug pad, they are excellent for insulation purposes. These 100% felt rug pads come in two different thickness ¼” and ⅜” and are extremely dense, making them perfect for trapping the heat in! Placing the rug pad underneath the area rug in my living room helped to trap the heat from the fireplace, I immediately noticed the difference.

To prepare my home for a family that I know will be tracking snow in all winter long, I placed an Ultra Premium rug pad in front of my basement door with no area rug on top. I did not want a nice rug in my basement entryway because my family is always tracking in dirt and snow in the winter and I wanted something that could scrape the dirt of their shoes.  The grey surface on our Ultra Premium was perfect for my basement, and the rubber bottom prevents the moisture of melting snow from damaging my floor. Now I don’t have to worry about my family tracking in dirt and snow through the basement and the thickness of the ultra premium prevents the cold air from leaking under my door! It is a perfect solution for garages and basements where you wouldn’t want to damage a rug, but want to prevent snow and mud from messing up your home.