Home maintenance: Fall checklist

Fall is a busy time for home maintenance.  It is good to prepare your home for the cold months ahead.  A little home maintenance now can prevent problems in the future.  Check out the following tips to give you a head start on your home maintenance.

•    Clean out the gutters and downspouts.  Autumn means lots of falling leaves which tend to wind up in those two places.  Removing the debris when most of the leaves have fallen will help ensure that your gutters do not get clogged and cause moisture problems.

•    Check the roof for any loose or missing shingles.  The cold weather can be tough on loose shingles so get them fixed now.

•    Hire a chimney sweep to clean out your chimney.  If it gets clogged, it can cause carbon monoxide to back up into your home.

•    Have your heater serviced.  If you ignore this bit of home maintenance, you may be in for some cold nights!

•    Replace the filters and have the ducts cleaned while you’re at it.  This improves the efficiency of your heater and the air quality, too.

•    Check the weather stripping around doors and windows and caulking them if needed.  This is an important step in maintaining your home. You don’t want your warm air to leak out and the cold winter air to creep in. 

•    Change out your summer screens from your windows and replace them with cold weather storm windows.  This can help reduce your energy costs for the winter.

•    Check your insulation.  For this home maintenance, you may want to get a professional to help.  Good insulation is one of the best ways to improve your home’s energy efficiency.

•    Make sure pipes are all well-insulated.  You don’t want a pipe to freeze during the winter weather.

•    Check the vents in your attic to make sure that your screens are all in place.  Your attic will be much warmer than outside.  You may have some unwelcome guests using your attic to hibernate unless you prevent them from getting in.

•    Clean and put away your yard tools so that they are ready to go in the spring.

Just as nature prepares for the cold weather of winter, fall home maintenance means preparing your home to handle the cold winter.  A little work now can help ensure that your home is nice and warm and ready to handle the harsh winter weather.