First Winter in Maine? Here’s What You Need To Know About Preparing Your New Maine Home

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Whether it was your family, your new neighbors, your realtor, or someone you barely know who saw your Facebook post about “moving to Maine”, someone probably warned you about your first winter in the Pine Tree State. The classic phrases usually go something like “Well, I hope you like snow!” or, “The Pine Tree State? More like the snow plow state!” or, “I hope your new home has off-street parking and a warm fireplace…”

The Maine lifestyle takes some work, but the rewards make it all worth it. Here are some of the things you will need to know about keeping your home comfortable and efficient through our bitter cold, snowy, and icy winters, complete with a new Homeowner Checklist you can use to keep track of your new-home weatherization tasks. 

Prepare Yourself for the Snow

…and lots of it. Snow can fall in heaps here in Maine (especially during a Nor’easter), and those heaps will stick around for a while with cold temps and short daylight hours. 

Snow is also going to pile up on your roof, which can eventually lead to a homeowner’s insurance claim nightmare: ice dams. 

Ice dams form when poor attic insulation and high amounts of air leakage allow the heat from your furnace or boiler to escape into the attic, warming up the underside of your roof. This melts some of the snow accumulation which will then drain down your roof, where it can re-freeze and create a barrier, or a “dam,” that will prevent future moisture from properly draining. This moisture buildup can cause damage to your roof, and can even seep down into your attic where it can wreak havoc in rooms below.

Your attic is one of the most important parts of the house to insulate, and adding air sealing for your home can help prevent the nightmare of ice dams while also keeping your house warm in the winter and stabilizing indoor temperatures. Not sure what type of home insulation is best for your house? We can help there, too!

Prepare Yourself for Ice and Power Outages

It won’t take long after moving to Maine to hear someone reference the great Ice Storm of 1998. Ice storms of this magnitude do not happen often, but storms are increasing in frequency and even smaller ice storms can cause power outages that last for days. It may be worth considering a backup-power system, like a generator or a solar battery storage system designed for off-grid operation. 

If the power does go out, you will not have access to your home heating system. Upgrading how your home performs can help reduce the sting of a winter power outage or make a generator-powered back-up heating/cooling unit far more effective by helping the home retain its ambient temperature while you wait for the power to return.

How You Can Prepare Your Home

Here are some other ways in which you can prepare your home for winter comfort and energy savings:

Basement Upgrades

Similar to how the attic can have an effect on how your home handles the challenges of winter, your basement can have an effect on your overall comfort throughout the colder months. Air cracks in the foundation or deficiencies in insulation allow the cold outside air to infiltrate your home, displacing the conditioned air from your furnace and creating cold main floors and reducing the effectiveness of your home heating system. 

Depending on the type of foundation and design of your basement or crawl space, the Evergreen Home Performance team can customize a plan to upgrade the insulation in your basement, or encapsulate it entirely. This will prevent moisture and cold air from causing problems like indoor drafts, mold growth, musty smells, and high heating costs. 

Upgrade Your Windows & Doors

The historic homes of Maine often come with historic windows and doors. However, even when old, historic windows made with the best of materials are properly maintained, they won’t be as efficient as new replacement windows that are properly installed. Give your home a curb appeal “facelift”, and increase your efficiency and comfort in the process with Maine’s first Marvin Windows Authorized replacement contractor, Evergreen Home Performance. 

Homeowner Maintenance Checklist

For other upgrades you might not be able to accomplish in the thick of winter, we have created a Home Maintenance Checklist so you can prepare your home for whatever the weather might throw at you and your family throughout the year.

new home checklist evergreen infographic

(View as a downloadable PDF version)

Need Help for your New Home? Evergreen Your Home!

Evergreen Home Performance is standing by. We’re ready to get started on developing a customized plan to “Evergreen your home”. We know that no two homes will ever be exactly alike, so we often start with a thorough visual inspection or an energy audit to get a sense for the challenges your home is presenting to your overall comfort. We’ll also explain to you how Maine Efficiency Maine rebate and financing programs help make your project even more affordable. Then, we will work with you to implement the most beneficial solutions. Our team is at the ready, so what are you waiting for? 

Welcome to Maine, we’re here to help keep your new home comfortable and efficient! Evergreen your home today—call Evergreen Home Performance at 207-594-2244> or get in touch here.

Is your new Maine home not as comfortable as you had hoped?

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We had Evergreen redo the insulation in our roof. The team handling our project did a great job. They left the house spotless. We've already noticed the difference in how much better our house is retaining heat. I would definitely recommend and will use them for future projects.

Ffej C.

South Portland

Evergreen has just completed Phase 2 of 2 at my home. They are professional, hard-working and courteous. They communicate well..no surprises. They've gone above and beyond to make my home comfortable and were very respectful of my home.I recommend them unequivocally!!!Many thanks to Brian, Brian, Rick, Eddie, Dawson and the rest of the Evergreen crew!!

David Henry Feldman

From start to finish, our experience was incredible. Justin was extremely helpful. The crew was fast, friendly, and efficient. And most importantly, our home is WAY warmer and our heating is less costly. I'd highly recommend evergreen to anyone looking to upgrade their home!

John S.

South Portland

The Evergreen crew who installed insulation in my attic were fantastic! They were very professional, worked exceedingly hard, and they did an excellent job. They were very pleasant and friendly to be around. They cleaned up beautifully after each work day, and left my home in great shape on when they walked out the door for the last time. I can't believe they were able to accomplish all that they did with heat soaring into the 80s and 90s. It was pretty unbearable up there! They have my highest praise and my gratitude.

Cynthia F.

South Portland

Evergreen listened and produced a thoughtful evaluation, proposal and comprehensive plan for our attic and basement. They exhibited excellent workmanship, teamwork, and came back as planned after the completion of the job to test the outcomes. Their overall performance as insulation and home improvement contractors is truly outstanding and we highly recommend them.

Susan S.

Saco

Evergreen came out 2 years ago to do an assessment and insulate our roof. This year we had them come back and do the basement as well. They are hands-down the best crew we've ever hired to work on our house. They are experts at what they do, and super meticulous in their work. After working in our house for a week with blown insulation, there was no trace they were ever here. We've seen a huge decrease in our energy bills while at the same time the house has become way more comfortable. Can't recommend them enough.

RC Lations II

Portland

Evergreen is a terrific company to deal with. Polite and efficient crews, meeting deadlines and major reduction in our heat bills. They corrected a lot of issues we suffered from doing work with a shoddy building contractor. We would recommend them to anyone.

Mary Carey

Evergreen did an amazing job insulating our historic home. Their professional staff worked hard to ensure the tough areas in the attic were covered, and clearly communicated their progress. We are seeing the results with our discounted heating bills. Thank you, Evergreen!

Melissa Knoll

Portland

The crew members from Evergreen Home Performance each made sure to greet us every day, while maintaining their distance in this time of the pandemic. Their work took a total of nine days, spread over three weeks. Even though they were working in multiple rooms of our house, as well as the basement and attic, they were unobtrusive and always cleaned up after themselves every day. The on-sight manager kept us informed of their daily schedule so we'd know which parts of the house they'd be working on.

Bob & Sue

Whitefield

Very easy process, start to finish.  Friendly, professional, and really know their stuff.  They made some improvements to our condo and we were very happy with how it played out.  Would definitely recommend them.

Clayton Eames

I am very pleased with my experience with Evergreen Home Performance. I met several times with Richard Burbank and he was very detailed in his explanations to all of my questions. He provided me with several options for improving the insulation to our home. The team of installers were very professional and respectful of our home. They did a great job of cleaning up every day after the days work and they were also very responsive to all my questions as well as we collaborated to get our home better insulated. It was a pleasure to work with Richard and…

Brian C.

Falmouth

My experience with Evergreen was excellent. From their thorough and thoughtful initial consultation to their detailed post-work visit, the team was professional, knowledgeable, and responsive. Their workmanship was top notch. Our home is now much warmer and more efficient. I highly recommend their services!

Douglas R.

Edgecomb

Thanks Evergreen Home Performance for helping to make our home more efficient. Many thanks as well to Bryan for the initial walk through and recommendations to make our home more efficient and to Dave, Roland, and Jacob for a job that was done professionally and courteous.  We were amazed at the level of efficiency and everyday they made sure to protect our floors, carpets, and furniture. We had daily discussions with Dave about progress and what was being done and where they were at in the project.

Carol Fink

First we have Evergreen do a BIG project worth about $20K (windows, basement, insulate & rebuild an entire wall, a door, attics, and air sealing). They were so great we had them come back later when we decided we did want to do our other door. They are professional and do great work. They take care of your home and are trustworthy, and on top of all that friendly! I highly recommend you call them!

Garreth C Debiegun

We are thrilled with the job Evergreen did to transform our 213 year old home into a warm, draft-free, cozy space. The entire team led by Bruce was prompt, courteous, knowledgeable, and hard working. If Evergreen could transform our home in this way, we are sure they would make a comparable difference in YOUR home!

Jonathan M.

Bridgton

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