8 Early Fall Home Maintenance Tips
It’s helpful to start prepping your home for fall before it actually arrives. Late summer is the ideal time to begin preparing for autumn and the rough weather to come. Use the following tips to get your home’s interior and exterior in tip-top shape for the cold season.
Interior:
#1 Home Safety
Before you close up your house and turn on the heat for the first time, you should make a point to check all of your safety devices to ensure that they work properly. Replace the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors and make sure your fire extinguishers aren’t expired.
#2 Schedule Furnace Main
tenance
Once the cold season strikes, your HVAC service is likely to be busy on service calls. Instead, schedule a furnace check in late August/early September to ensure that your furnace is functioning optimally. Late summer is the ideal time to catch small furnace problems before they cause large ― and expensive ― problems during a cold snap.
#3 Improve Insulation
With improved insulation in your attic and walls, you’ll be better able to prevent cold air from seeping into your interior. When cold drafts get into your home, they force your furnace to work overtime to heat your house. This leads to higher energy bills. Investing in insulation can help you save on energy costs.
#4 Ready Quilts and Blankets
Freshen up stored quilts and winter blankets during the late summer. Also, you might want to have your flannel sheets and pillowcases ready as well.
Exterior:
#1 Check for Cracks
Look for cracks in your home’s foundation and seal them properly to prevent cold drafts from getting inside. Cracks in your foundation or near windows also function as an entryway for unwanted critters like mice.
#2 Check Your Roof
It’s important to check your roof for problems before cold weather hits. Check for loose shingles and make any necessary repairs before the autumn storms arrive. Don’t forget to check your gutters while you’re on the roof. Although you’ll likely have to clean your gutters after the leaves have fallen, you can still remove any leaves, branches or nests in late summer to ensure optimum drainage.
#3 Reinforce Doors and Windows
Before the cold weather hits, set aside a day to replace your door and window screens with storm windows. You can also add weather stripping to doors and windows to help keep cool air from seeping inside.
#4 Trim Your Trees
If you notice any dead branches or decaying limbs on the trees of your property, you should call your landscaping service to have them removed. These limbs can become hazardous when loaded with ice and snow. They can also prove vulnerable to winds, so it’s best to remove them before they can fall on your house or vehicle.