Each season it’s important to spend some time doing a review of what your house needs. That way home maintenance becomes less tedious and stressful. Here’s our fall checklist to make sure you get your home properly prepped for winter.
Have your heating system serviced by a professional so you’re not left out in the cold once the temperatures start to drop.
Walk around both the inside and outside of your home and check for any leaks around your windows and doors. Now’s a great time to also add weather stripping to windows and doors (and your garage door) to cut energy costs and keep warm air inside, and critters and cold air outside.
If you have a fireplace and chimney, have them inspected by a professional.
You may need to have your pavement around your home resealed before winter hits. So, check your walkways, driveway, and porch for cracks.
Flush hoses used during the warmer months and store in your garage or shed. Be sure to wrap exterior pipes and spigots with heating tape or insulation wrap to prevent freezing. Also, don’t forget to winterize irrigation or sprinkler systems, if needed.
Test smoke/carbon monoxide detectors and switch out the batteries. Doing this each season when the time changes is a great way to a remind yourself to do this twice a year.
Trim your trees and shrubs around your house so when cold weather comes you don’t have any issues with branches leaning on your roof or falling against your home during a winter storm.
Clean gutters and downspouts—this is important to make sure you have proper water flow around your home and who wants to mess with that when it’s freezing outside? Not us!
Walk around the exterior of your home and look for signs of damage to the outside (siding, brick, foundation, roof, etc.)
Clean dryer vents—this is easy to do on your own with the right tools, but you can also hire someone to do this. If you hire someone, have them clean all of your air vents to get your money’s worth.
Take some time to check your deck and/or fencing for any maintenance that needs to happen. Water, ice, and snow can significantly damage wood so it’s easier and cheaper to take care of small issues before they become big issues.
Clean and cover patio furniture. Patio furniture is expensive enough without having to replace it each year. Make sure you protect it from the pending cold weather with furniture covers or store in a shed or your garage.
Change direction of your ceiling fan rotation. In the winter, your heater is running and by reversing the direction of your fan it can help move the warm air down to the floor.
Print off this checklist and put it on your fridge to check off your “to-do list” while the weather is still warm, or even share it with a neighbor! Be on the lookout for a checklist each season to make sure your home is being well maintained.