Winterizing Your Home in the Caribbean

Inspired by this home improvement article — Don’t Put a Freeze on Home Maintenance! Your Handy Winter Checklist Is Here — on Realtor.com, we thought a blog about winterizing in the Caribbean would be fun. Well, to be honest, at first we just thought it would be funny! But after reading the article, we realized they have some great tips, even for the Caribbean. We don’t necessarily hibernate here in the winter, but carving out time away from the beach for these tasks is just as difficult!

The first point in the article is the most pertinent — Get ready for (more) winter storms. Our reasons might not be the same, but getting ready for future storms is important. And the best time to prepare for a catastrophe is before it happens. Especially now that hurricane preparedness is top-of-mind, think about the ways that you could have been more prepared. Make a checklist of the things you’ll want to do real-time when you’re anticipating a storm in the future and purchase the supplies that you might need now, rather than waiting. Trust us, it will be much easier to buy or order a tarp now!

The article specifically mentions making sure your generator is working (which most of us surely know at this point in time!) and to stock up on batteries for flashlights and lanterns. It also recommends a solar- or battery-powered weather radio — another necessity for island living.

Of course, we’ve all been removing broken limbs from our properties. Not because we’re worried about them getting too heavy with snow though! Making sure that no broken or dead limbs can fall on power lines, your house, your belongings or your neighbor’s property is a good way to prevent unnecessary destruction.

Per Realtor.com’s suggestion, now is a good time to remember to clean your oven. Again, we may not need to do this in the winter for the same reasons, but it should be done on a regular schedule and what easier time to remember than at the start of a new year. For the same reason, and definitely not because we’re worried about our space heaters, you may also change the batteries in your smoke detectors.

Whether you run an A/C and keep windows and doors closed or you prefer open-air living, checking for allergens is also a good idea. Cleaning dust build-up on fans and alleviating any opportunities for mold are two good steps to take. Allergen-resistant mattress and pillow covers are also effective ways to protect your home from potential allergens.

As for blocking drafts and preventing pipes from freezing, we’ll leave those tasks to our stateside friends, who might also want to consider adding “plan a trip to St. Croix” to their to-do lists!