12 Ways to Prep Your Home for Fall

Man cleaning his house gutters during the fall season.

When it comes to preparing your home for the season, we typically focus on summer and winter maintenance. However, fall makes for a perfect opportunity to get your house in order ahead of winter. Don’t know where to start? Well, let the Good Hands Advice team provide you with some tips to help get you started.

Why Is Fall Home Maintenance Important?
How Can I Stay On Top Of My House Maintenance?
Why Insurance is Important?

Why Is Fall Home Maintenance Important?

By upkeeping your home at this time of year, you help to minimize potential damage that may occur in the winter. Your home should be able to withstand harsh conditions such as, heavy rain, wind, snow or frost. If you don’t act on these things as soon as possible, you risk having to spend a lot more to correct the damages that may occur during the winter months.

How Can I Stay On Top Of My House Maintenance?

We have developed 12 ways to help prepare your home for the fall.

Preparing the Inside of Your Home

  1. Inspect Your Roof. Let’s start from the top of the house and work our way down. Your roof is the first line of defence to help shield you from extreme weather conditions. Check for any wear and tear your roof may have experienced. For example, checking to see if the edges of your shingles are bent upward or shows signs of damage, and if you see granules forming. For these types of issues, we recommend contacting a roofing contractor to help.
  2. Cleaning Your Gutters. It can be easy to overlook your gutters, but it is important that you clear them and your eavestrough from any debris that may have collected in there. If you don’t clean your gutters and downspouts, this can lead to water overflowing from the gutters and causing damage to your home’s foundation.
  3. Seal any Cracks. Now that you’ve inspected your roof and gutters, it’s now time to inspect your windows and your home’s foundation. Use a caulk gun to seal any cracks you may find. Not only will this help to prevent any pests from entering your home, you may be saving on heating cost too.
  4. Inspect Your Trees. If you have a large tree on your property, consider inspecting it to make sure that any branches are trimmed and moved away from your home. All it takes is an intense storm to knock over a tree branch and cause serious damage to your home.
  5. Fertilize Your Lawn. You may think that just because winter is approaching there is no need to maintain your lawn, but you’d be incorrect. According to lawn experts, fertilizing your lawn gives your grass the essential nutrients it needs as it prepares for winter.
  6. Clean your Garage. Use this time to store your summer equipment and bring out your winter ones. Inspect them to see if they are in good working order. The benefit of doing so now is that if you notice any winter equipment that needs to be repaired or replaced, the prices may be slightly cheaper than if you were to wait until the winter when the demand for these items is higher.

Preparing the Outside of Your Home

  1. Insulate Your Home. While we mentioned caulking the outside windows as a way to seal in any heat and prevent outdoor critters from entering, there are other ways you can insulate the inside of your home. One way to do so is by purchasing thermal curtains. These specialty curtains are thick and have extra layers of fabric designed to keep cold air trapped behind the curtains to help prevent it from circulating around your home.
  2. Check Your Heating Source. Speaking of the heat, use this time to inspect your furnace to ensure that it is in good working order. Contact an HVAC specialist if you suspect that your furnace needs repair.
  3. Clean and Change Your Furnace Filters. To prepare for the colder season, we recommend cleaning and changing your filters if necessary. Throughout the summer months your filters may have accumulated a lot of debris that may need to be checked. By cleaning and changing your filters your heating system will be able to work efficiently (again, saving money on heating bills) and prevent debris, and other allergens, from circulating inside your home.
  4. Check your Carbon Monoxide Monitors. There’s a good chance that because of the colder weather, you will be spending more time at home. Check your carbon monoxide monitors and smoke detectors to make sure they are working properly.
  5. Shut-off and drain outside faucets. Be sure to shut off and drain your outside faucets. If not, any remaining water found in your pipes can freeze and burst – causing extensive (and costly) water damage to your home.
  6. Put Your Air Conditioner to Bed.Ask a professional to properly power down your central air conditioner unit. Fully covering your air conditioner may trap moisture, so ask if a short cover that just covers the top is right for your unit to prevent leaves and debris from getting trapped inside.

Why is Home Insurance Important?

Some people may not have adequate home insurance protection or assume that they have coverage when they don’t. Things to consider when speaking to your insurance provider may include:

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