It feels like just yesterday we were enjoying outdoor barbeques, swimming in pools, and complaining about the heat. Then I blinked, and it is the middle of fall. The cooler weather makes fall a great time to do some home maintenance to prep your house for winter. Here are some tips not to forget.
10 Simple Fall Home Maintenance Tips
1. Clean out your gutters. The trees are in all stages of losing leaves and keeping those leaves out the the gutters helps the water to flow away from your home and ice from forming in the winter. Don’t forget to check the downspouts too.
2. Fertilize your lawn. Help your grass look great in the spring by adding some fertilizer now. Not sure which one is for your yard? You can always as a pro at the garden center to guide you in the right direction.
3. Put away your garden hoses. Drain and stash them away for next year.
4. Change your furnace filters. Prep your furnace for all the hard work it’s about to do by checking out the filters and replacing as needed.
5. Check your smoke and carbon dioxide detectors. Make sure that all your detectors are functioning properly.
6. Turn off your outdoor faucets. Drain the water and turn the faucets off from the valve on the inside of your home. You can even buy covers that will help insulate them from freezing temperatures.
7. Replace the air filters around your home. Check out your air filters and replace as needed.
8. Pack away the grill. Clean up the grill and store it away for next year. Remember to place the tank somewhere safe.
9. Seal your deck. Toss some water on your deck; if it doesn’t bead up and absorbs into the wood at different speeds, then it is probably in need of a fresh coat of sealer. Doing so will help protect the deck from an sitting snow during the winter.
10. Organize the garage. Nobody wants to be shuffling through an unheated garage in the winter searching for an ice scraper or shovel. Use the warmer fall weather to get it organized and pull out the items you’ll need in winter for easy access.
