Now the summer is coming to a close, it’s time to start thinking about how you can prepare yourself and your home for a changing of the seasons. Especially if you live in an area where seasonal changes can come with drastic shifts in weather, you’re going to want to be sure that your home is ready for whatever the fall or winter are going to be throwing your way.
To help you get your house in order, here are three home maintenance projects to undertake this fall.
Deal With Outdoor Water Issues
While you might have been worried about ensuring all the landscaping around your property was property watered during the spring and summer, fall and winter are more about ensuring that you don’t have issues with standing or freezing water anywhere.
As a part of this, John Rhia, a contributor to House Logic, advises that you do things like properly drain and store your garden hoses, get your sprinkler systems turned off and drained, redirect any drainage away from the foundation of your home, and remove any debris from your gutters. If you’re unable to do any of these tasks on your own, make sure you call in a professional so you don’t wind up with a plumbing mishap on your hands.
Make Sure Your Home’s Properly Sealed
With fall and winter weather comes fall and winter temperatures. And while you might like to keep your home toasty warm as the temperature drops, what you don’t want is to be wasting any of that heat by allowing it to escape from your home without your knowledge.
Because of this, Barbara Winfield, a contributor to BobVila.com, advises that you inspect all areas of your home to ensure that there aren’t any leaks where heat can escape or cold air can enter. If you do find areas like this, simply buy some weather stripping or caulk so you can fill in these holes and eliminate the leaks. Not only could this help keep your home warmer, but it could also save you a lot of money on your heating bills as well.
Protect Yourself From Carbon Monoxide
In many places, fall and winter mean using more appliances that produce heat within your home. You’ll likely be using your furnace or some other heater to heat your home, you’ll be cooking large meals around the holidays, and you’ll be using your water heater at a more accelerated rate.
As a result of these things, you could be exposing yourself to potential carbon monoxide if something malfunctions. To best protect yourself from this, Andrew Zoellner, a contributor to the Family Handyman, recommends that you some of your fall maintenance time to check your carbon monoxide detectors in your home or get new ones if necessary.
If you’re ready to take on some fall maintenance projects at home, consider using the tips mentioned above to help direct your efforts in the right direction.
