Winter Home Checklist: 12 Jobs to Book

The best time to prepare your house for winter is in the autumn, before the first hard frost and before trades get booked up. The most important jobs are a boiler service, clearing gutters, a quick roof check, protecting pipes and outside taps, and sweeping any chimney you use. Some of these you can do yourself in an afternoon; others need a qualified tradesperson.

Most winter callouts, from a boiler that won’t fire up to water pouring through a ceiling, are easier and cheaper to prevent than to fix in an emergency. Here are 12 jobs worth ticking off now, split into what you can do yourself and what you should book.

Jobs to book with a professional

1. Service your boiler

An annual boiler service is the single most useful winter job. The engineer checks that the boiler is burning safely, cleans key parts and spots worn components before they fail on the coldest night of the year. A standard service typically costs around £70 to £150.

Only a Gas Safe registered engineer can legally work on a gas boiler. You can find one through our gas engineers page, and always check their Gas Safe ID card when they arrive.

2. Get your gutters cleared

Gutters full of autumn leaves overflow, and that water soaks into walls, causing damp patches inside and damage to brickwork and fascias. Gutter cleaning on a typical house often costs around £80 to £200, depending on the size of the house and access.

If you have a bungalow and feel safe on a ladder, you may be able to do it yourself. For anything higher, it is safer to book a professional with the right equipment.

3. Have the roof checked

Slipped or cracked tiles, worn flashing around chimneys and tired flat roof coverings are much easier to fix before winter storms arrive. You can spot some problems from the ground with binoculars: missing tiles, gaps along the ridge, or moss building up in valleys.

If you see anything, ask one of our roofers to take a closer look. Do not climb onto the roof yourself.

4. Sweep the chimney

If you use an open fire or wood burner, have the chimney swept at least once a year before the burning season starts, and more often for heavy use. Soot and tar build-up can cause chimney fires, and blockages such as old nests can stop smoke and fumes from escaping. A sweep typically costs around £60 to £130.

5. Fix dripping taps and leaks

A small drip from a tap or under a sink is easy to ignore, but leaks get worse in winter and slow drips from pipes in cold spaces can freeze. A plumber can sort several small jobs in one visit, which is usually better value than separate callouts.

6. Check your carbon monoxide alarms

Carbon monoxide has no colour, smell or taste, and the risk rises in winter when boilers, fires and stoves are working hardest. Fit a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a fuel-burning appliance, test it monthly and replace it at the end of its life (the date is usually printed on the back). If an alarm sounds, open windows, leave the house and call the Gas Emergency number on 0800 111 999.

Jobs you can usually do yourself

7. Bleed your radiators

If your radiators are warm at the bottom but cold at the top, they probably have trapped air. To bleed them:

Turn the heating off and let the radiators cool.

Use a radiator key to slowly open the bleed valve at the top corner, holding a cloth underneath.

Close it once water starts to come out instead of air.

Check the boiler pressure gauge and top it up if it has dropped, following your boiler manual.

If radiators are cold at the bottom instead, or bleeding doesn’t help, the system may have sludge, which is a job for a heating engineer.

8. Insulate pipes in cold spaces

Pipes in lofts, garages, under floors and on outside walls are most at risk of freezing. Foam pipe lagging from a DIY store is cheap and simple to fit. Make sure the cold water tank in the loft is insulated too, but leave the area directly underneath it uninsulated so warmth from the house can reach it.

9. Protect your outside tap

An outside tap is one of the first things to freeze. If it has an isolating valve inside the house, turn it off and open the outside tap to drain it. Then fit an insulated tap cover. If there is no isolating valve, a plumber can fit one quickly, and it is worth doing.

10. Find your stopcock

If a pipe bursts, you need to turn off the water fast. Find your internal stopcock now (it is often under the kitchen sink, in a downstairs cupboard or where the water pipe enters the house), check it turns, and make sure everyone in the house knows where it is. A stiff stopcock that won’t budge is worth getting a plumber to replace before you need it.

11. Deal with draughts

Draughts from doors, windows, letterboxes and unused chimneys waste heat and money. Self-adhesive draught strips, brush strips for letterboxes and keyhole covers are cheap and quick to fit. Don’t block air bricks or trickle vents in windows, as these provide ventilation that helps prevent condensation and mould.

12. Clear drains and check the garden

Clear leaves from outside drain gullies so rainwater can get away. Look for loose fence panels, overhanging branches and anything in the garden that might blow about in a storm, and secure or store it before the weather turns.

DIY or trade? A quick summary

Job

DIY or trade

Typical UK cost if booked

Boiler service

Gas Safe engineer only

£70 – £150

Gutter cleaning

Trade for anything above ground floor

£80 – £200

Roof check and minor repairs

Trade

Varies by job; many small repairs £150 – £500

Chimney sweep

Trade

£60 – £130

Fix leaks and dripping taps

Plumber for anything beyond a washer change

Often a single callout or half day

Carbon monoxide alarms

DIY

Cost of the alarm

Bleed radiators

DIY

Free with a radiator key

Lag pipes and loft tank

DIY

Cost of lagging

Outside tap cover and isolating valve

DIY cover; plumber to fit a valve

Small plumbing job

Find and test stopcock

DIY; plumber to replace if seized

Small plumbing job

Draught-proofing

DIY

Cost of materials

Drain gullies and garden

DIY

Free

These are typical UK ranges and vary by home and area. Homes in Reading and the wider South East often see prices towards the middle or upper end.

Why booking early matters

Heating engineers, roofers and plumbers get much busier once the cold weather arrives, and emergency callouts usually cost more than planned visits. Booking routine jobs in the autumn gives you more choice of appointment times and more chance of getting a trade you have properly checked out, rather than whoever happens to be free on a freezing Sunday.

If you can, group small jobs together. One plumber visit to fix a dripping tap, fit an isolating valve for the outside tap and replace a stiff stopcock is usually better value than three separate callouts.

Getting quotes

For any job on this list that needs a trade:

Describe the job clearly. Say what you have noticed, where it is and how long it has been happening. Photos help.

Ask what’s included. Does a boiler service include a flue gas analysis? Does gutter cleaning include clearing downpipes?

Check credentials. Gas Safe registration for gas work, and proof of insurance for roofing and work at height.

Compare like for like. Get up to three quotes so you can see the going rate and spot anything unusually high or low.

If you’re in the area, you can find plumbers in Reading for leaks, outside taps and stopcocks, and our Reading homeowner guide covers the other local trades.

Get up to 3 quotes from vetted local trades. Tell us about the job and your postcode, and we’ll match you with trades whose reviews come from real, invoiced jobs.

FAQs

How do I prepare my house for winter?

Start with a boiler service, gutter cleaning and a roof check, then protect pipes and outside taps, bleed your radiators, test your carbon monoxide alarms and deal with draughts. Doing these jobs in the autumn is easier and cheaper than waiting for something to go wrong.

When should gutter cleaning be done?

Late autumn, once most of the leaves have fallen, is the most useful time. Homes surrounded by trees may need gutters cleared more than once a year.

How do I bleed radiators?

Turn the heating off, let the radiators cool, then use a radiator key to slowly open the bleed valve until water appears. Close it, then check your boiler pressure and top it up if needed.

How often should a boiler be serviced?

Most manufacturers recommend a service once a year, and many warranties require it. Autumn is a good time, before the heating is working hardest.

Do I need to sweep my chimney every year?

If you use an open fire or wood burner, you should have the chimney swept at least once a year, and more often if you use it heavily or burn wood.