6 Ways to Prepare Your Home for the Fall Season

As the season begins to change, it's time to prep your home for falling leaves, cooler weather, and, eventually, winter storms. Tackling a few fall home maintenance tasks now can help ward off issues later in the season, so you can enjoy everything you love about autumn worry-free.

Clean your gutters

It’s good to clean out your gutters every season, but it is most important to do before fall hits because you don’t want them to get clogged. All of the leaves on your trees will fall and these can easily get stuck in your gutters and cause damage if the weight becomes too heavy.

Seal up air leaks

Feel for drafts around the edges of windows and doors. A good tip is to use a lighted candle and if the flame flickers, there’s most likely a draft. If necessary, replace seals and repair caulking around window and door frames. Consider buying heavier or insulated drapery for especially drafty windows

Inspect and Repair Your Roof

Give your roof a quick look-over and search for any signs that it is damaged and needs to be fixed. Start by looking for curled, broken, or missing shingles, moss growth, or rust. Notice any of the mentioned issues or have concerns? Consider having your roof professionally inspected as soon as possible.

Inspect your furnace

If you didn’t already do it last spring, consider getting your furnace professionally serviced in time for the cold season. At a minimum, visually inspect your furnace and replace the furnace filter before you start using it on a daily basis.

Sweep your chimney, and clean your fire place.

This is an extremely important check that you need to do before the start of the fall season. Creosote is a very high flammable substance that builds up inside the chimney as a result of burning wood and it needs to be cleaned out for your safety and energy efficiency. Before you get the fireplace up and running, your fireplace also needs a thorough cleaning. Make sure there are no nests from spiders, and clean out all the leaves that may have fallen into the fireplace area. You can also make a mixture of warm water and mild dish washing liquid to clean up the mess around the fire place.

Make sure that your humidifier is working.

A humidifier will not only keep the bone-dry air at bay, but it will also prevent wood from cracking. Check the pads or plates on your humidifier, and clean them using laundry detergent. Scrape off any mineral deposits using steel wool or a wire brush

Hopefully these tips will help you avoid costly repairs and problems in the future. By preparing your home for fall, you’ll be doing a lot of the prep for spring and summer as well!