Winterizing an older Hilltop home.

Denver is a place where it can be seventy degrees on a Tuesday and snowing sideways by Thursday, and an early storm has caught more than one homeowner with leaves still on the trees. Hilltop’s older houses handle the climate well when they are looked after. The trouble is that most of the damage we see in winter was set up in October.

This is a fall walk-through for owners of the neighborhood’s older homes — the Tudors, Georgians, and Colonial Revivals built in the 1920s and 1930s, and the mid-century houses that followed. It is general orientation, not an inspection; the point is to know what to look at and in what order.

Begin at the top: roof and gutters

Denver’s sunny winter days melt snow on the roof, and cold nights refreeze it at the eaves. That cycle is harder on a house than a steady deep freeze. Water backs up behind ice at the gutter line and works its way under shingles, tile, or slate. Many Hilltop homes carry slate or clay tile, which can last a century but depend on flashing, valleys, and fasteners that do not.

Before the first storm, clear the gutters and downspouts, confirm that downspouts discharge well away from the foundation, and have a roofer look at flashing around chimneys, dormers, and valleys. Look in the attic for daylight, stained decking, or damp insulation. An attic that leaks heat from the house below is what melts the snow in the first place, so air sealing and insulation are part of the roof conversation.

The heating system deserves an appointment

A large share of the neighborhood’s older homes heat with boilers and radiators, and many of those systems are original or lightly updated. They are durable and comfortable, and they reward service. Have the boiler cleaned and tested before you need it, bleed the radiators, check the expansion tank and pressure, and confirm that the carbon monoxide detectors work. Forced-air homes need fresh filters and a look at the heat exchanger.

If you are buying rather than owning, the age and service history of the heating system belongs on your inspection list; our older-home inspection checklist covers how to evaluate it.

Windows and doors: the honest trade-off

Original wood or steel casement windows are part of what makes these houses look the way they do, and in a landmark or design-conscious context they are often worth keeping. They are also draftier than modern units. The usual middle path is to repair rather than replace: fresh glazing putty, weatherstripping, working hardware, and well-fitted storm windows, which can narrow the performance gap considerably.

Replacement can be the right call for a window that is rotted through or a house with no preservation constraint, but check before you commit. Homes within a designated historic district or individually landmarked properties can be subject to review; see our guide to landmark designation in Hilltop for how that works. Doors deserve the same attention: sweeps, thresholds, and the seal at the mail slot are small items that add up.

Trees: look up

Hilltop’s mature canopy is one of its great assets, and it is also the reason early snow is a hazard. Trees still in leaf catch wet snow, and heavy limbs break. Have an arborist assess large trees near the house, the garage, and power lines, remove dead or crossing branches, and consider structural pruning where a limb overhangs the roof. Our piece on the Hilltop tree canopy explains why the neighborhood’s trees matter, and why they deserve proper care rather than a quick trim.

Pipes, sprinklers, and the lines you cannot see

The seasonal basics still apply: disconnect and drain hoses, shut off and winterize exterior hose bibs, and have the irrigation system blown out. Insulate any pipes that run through unheated spaces such as crawlspaces, garages, or exterior walls. If a room has been closed off or a house will sit empty for a stretch, keep the heat set high enough to protect the plumbing.

Older homes may also have aging sewer service lines, often clay or cast iron, and roots from mature trees are a familiar cause of trouble. A camera inspection of the line is a modest expense that can prevent a very large one, and it is worth doing whether you are staying or selling.

Chimneys, fireplaces, and the small things

Have wood-burning chimneys inspected and swept before the season; the cap, crown, and flue liner are all worth a look. Check smoke and CO detectors, replace batteries, and locate your main water shutoff and make sure everyone in the house knows where it is. Keep a snow shovel and ice melt where you can reach them without moving anything.

If you are planning to sell this winter

Deferred maintenance tends to surface in a buyer’s inspection, and it surfaces at the worst moment. Taking care of the items above before listing, and keeping the receipts, helps a buyer trust the house. Read our guides on preparing a Hilltop home for sale and when to list for how seasonal timing and preparation fit together.

Why this matters

An older house is a long-term relationship with a set of systems, and the owners who do well by theirs tend to be the ones who do small things on a schedule. An afternoon with a ladder and a handful of service calls in October is the cheapest insurance a Hilltop home will ever buy.

If you are weighing whether to keep a house, update it, or sell it, David and Tom are glad to give you a candid opinion on what is worth doing and what is not.