Best Winter Tools for Your Home

As snow and ice on your roof melt, they form pools and refreeze. These ice dams expand and damage parts of your roof like shingles, gutters, and downspouts. The good news is you can avoid the risk with winter tools like a roof rake or roof cables. 

A roof rake like the GYMAX Roof Rake is the simplest solution, especially if you have a single-level home. You can use this winter tool to gather snow and knock it off the roof. Look for a sturdy, telescoping roof rake with a long reach to clear as much snow as you can.

Offering a slightly more high-tech solution, roof cables stay warm to melt the snow and ice on your roof. They require installation and planning, but they’ll save you work during the winter season.

Driving in the winter can be scary. With a few precautions, you can make your driveway a safer place. 

Start with salt. You probably see heavy bags of road salt on sidewalks around your neighborhood, but did you know standard snow melt can harm the skin on pets’ paws and damage plants? 

Try a more eco-friendly pet-safe snow melter instead to keep the pets and plants happy. An ice-melt spreader distributes the salt evenly for better traction and (after a good rinse) doubles as a post-winter garden tool for sowing seeds or watering plants. 

Snow removal equipment like snow shovels and snow blowers do the same job in different ways. Snow shovels require more manual labor, but attachments like a second handle or ergonomic design can speed up the job. A snow blower is more expensive, but this powerful tool makes shoveling snow much easier (and kinda fun).

Whether you’re out doing winter yard work or taking the dog for a walk, you need traction to tread through slick spots on the sidewalk. Attachable shoe cleats fit over most shoes and keep you upright in slippery, snowy conditions. 

You can also try heated mats or snow-melting cables for your walkway. Much like roof cables, these devices warm the surface automatically, paving a pre-melted path to your car or the street. But be warned, they may attract neighborhood wildlife.

Pipe insulation keeps your plumbing from freezing and prevents potentially damaging leaks. Before the first winter storm, install pipe heating cables, pipe wrap, and an insulated faucet cover to keep your pipes warm all winter. It doesn’t take long to install insulation and keep your water running throughout the cold weather. 

We also recommend keeping a water leak detector under major appliances throughout your home. They work year-round and alert you to leaks so you can stop flooding before it starts.

You don’t have to live up north for winter weather to cause a power outage. Ice storms and hail are notorious for freezing power lines and cutting off electricity to homes. 

We recommend keeping a portable generator like the Jackery Power Station handy in case the power goes out. Preparing candles, flashlights, food and water, and other emergency items is also wise in case you’re stuck without power for over 24 hours.

Upgrade your old ice scraper this winter to one that handles ice and snow. The best ice scrapers have telescoping handles for hard-to-reach places and pivoting brush handles to simplify cleaning your windshield, like the Birdrock Car Snow Brush.

Road conditions can be dangerous during the winter season, so take precautions and equip your vehicle with the right tools. 

Snow tires or snow chains grip the road for traction while driving and make it easier to back out of slippery patches.  

Traction pads offer another option for safely backing out or getting unstuck from snowbanks and slippery ice patches. You can even find some that double as ice scrapers.