Fall home maintenance tips

In 2020, approximately 82.8 million people lived in homes they owned.

When you own a house, you’re responsible for the maintenance it needs. If you slack on the upkeep, you might experience more problems with your home.

If you want to avoid problems with your home, you might want to complete some steps to protect your house and keep it safe.

While you can complete maintenance activities at any time, you might specifically wonder what the best fall home maintenance tips are that you can do.

If you’re wondering this, check out this guide that explains the best things you can do to maintain your home this fall.

Clean your gutters

One of the top things you should do on the outside of your home in the fall is to clean your gutters. You can hire a company to do this or do it yourself.

Your gutters are vital for your home all year round, but the fall is a great time to clean them. When you clean them, you can remove all the leaves and debris that get trapped inside.

Clean gutters drain water more easily and properly, which helps prevent problems in your home.

Check your roof

Part of fall maintenance is also checking your roof. Your roof needs to withstand cold temperatures, ice, and snow this fall and winter, and you’ll want to make sure it’s in good condition.

If you notice any issues with it, contact a roofing company to perform fall home repairs on your roof if needed. If you get on your roof yourself, make sure you use extreme caution to avoid falling off.

The main thing to look for is missing shingles. Missing shingles weakens the roof’s integrity, and you’ll need to replace these before winter.

Look for exposed pipes

You might also want to spend some time examining the outdoor plumbing at your home. First, look for exposed pipes. If you have exposed pipes, they could freeze this winter, which is never a good thing.

If you locate any exposed pipes, you can insulate them to protect them. A plumber can also provide more tips to help you protect your plumbing system.

Additionally, fall is a great time to shut off your exterior faucets and empty them out. Water in the lines can freeze, leaving you with major plumbing issues to address.

Clean the vents

Your home also has vents on the exterior. If these vents develop clogs, they will not work properly.

Therefore, you might want to check all the vents and clean them out if needed. You can also hire a roofing company or plumber to do this for you if you need some assistance.

If you complete these home maintenance tasks, your home will be safe and protected for the fall and winter.

Hire a chimney sweep

If you have a fireplace in your house that you plan to use this fall and winter, you’ll need to hire a chimney sweep. You can’t inspect or clean a chimney properly by yourself.

A chimney sweep will examine your fireplace to ensure that it’s clean and safe to use. If it needs anything, the chimney sweep will complete the steps it needs.

Hiring someone to inspect and clean your chimney annually is one of the best home repairs and maintenance tasks you can do for safety.

Using a dirty chimney can lead to a fire in your home, but you can prevent this by getting the chimney cleaned each year.

Change your furnace filters

Next, you should check your furnace and its filter. Your furnace filter gets dirty as you use the system, and you must replace this filter regularly.

You might also consider hiring a fall handyman to clean your entire furnace system. A clean furnace runs more efficiently and is prone to fewer problems. You can also hire an HVAC company to do this for you.

Test smoke detectors and replace batteries

The fall is also an excellent time to check all your smoke detectors. In fact, you should plan on replacing the batteries in all your smoke detectors every fall. By doing this, you can make sure they’re all in good working condition.

If you have a carbon monoxide detector, you can also replace that battery. If you don’t have one and use gas in your home, you should consider purchasing one.

A carbon monoxide detector can protect you from this odorless gas that can make you sick or lead to fatalities.

Shut and lock all the windows

One last thing you should consider doing each fall is some window maintenance. If you have storm windows, the fall is a great time to shut them, as they help you stop airflow from entering your home.

You should also shut all your screens or remove them in the fall. Additionally, you should shut all the windows and lock them. Keeping them shut and locked also stops airflow, which helps you save money on heating costs.

Having a fall maintenance checklist is a great idea if you want to keep your home safe. You might also want to have a summer maintenance checklist to use, too.

Create a checklist for fall home maintenance tips

Keeping up with the upkeep your home needs is a great way to avoid problems with your house. You can use these fall home maintenance tips to create a checklist that you can use each year for maintaining your home.

If you run into a problem with your home and need help with a temporary relocation, contact us at Sedgwick’s temporary housing division. We can help you find temporary housing when you need it.