Prepare Your Home for Fall Season, by Claudia S. Nelson with Keller Williams Realty in Woodbridge VA
The days are getting shorter and colder which is a pretty good sign fall is just around the corner. As a home owner there are some things you should do to getting your home ready for the colder season. Here are some tips:
- Clean gutters and downspouts
- You should regularly clean out your gutters but this is especially important when in fall to assure your home is ready for the colder season.
- Inspect your homes exterior and replace paint or rotten wood
- You should always make sure all wood is properly painted. This will safe you a lot of money down the road. The paint will protect the wood and prevent it from going bad. In the event there is some rotten wood you want to make sure to replacing it.
- Trim trees and bushes so nothing is touching your home
- Avoid trees and bushes to damage the exterior of your home but making sure no branches are touching or too close to your homes exterior. This easy trick will safe you money in the long run.
- Inspect window and door for caps
- Seal gabs and cracks around windows and doors with caulk and or weather strips.
- Service your heating system to get ready for the colder season
- Hire a professional HVAC contractor to give your heating system a check up.
- Change all air filters
- Change your air filters regularly.
- Clean and inspect your chimney
- Chances are that you will be having the fireplace going during the colder months so make sure the chimney gets inspected and cleaned.
- Test your carbon monoxide alarms and smoke detectors
- Replace batteries in smoke alarms
- Winterize outdoor faucets, hoses and sprinkling systems prior to the first freezing temperatures
- This is very important as you don’t want your pipes to freeze once temperatures drop below freezing.