Fall Home Maintenance Checklist
Is your home in good shape? Fall is your chance to take care of major home improvement projects and prepare your home for the upcoming winter before daylight gets shorter and temperatures get colder. Use our handy Fall Home Maintenance Checklist to help you inspect your home!
TREES
Inspect the trees around your home for branches that need trimming. Prevent weak and dead branches from breaking off and damaging your home in high winds and winter storms.
GUTTERS
Fallen leaves can accumulate in your gutters and clog them. When water cannot be properly moved away from your roof and the area around your home, the excess moisture can damage your home through mold, flooding, a cracked foundation, infestation of water insects, paint damage, and rotting of the exterior.
ROOFING
Protect your home from water damage. When the weather gets rainy and snowy, the last thing you want is water seeping into your home through cracks or tears in your roof. Once water has entered your home, it is there to stay. Water damage can lead to expensive problems like water spots on your ceilings, interior mold and mildew issues, and compromised structural integrity. These problems lead to more problems. For example, water saturated insulation in your attic will greatly diminish its insulating power causing your heating bills to increase to make up for the heat loss.
SIDING
Maximize your home’s energy efficiency and minimize your heating costs by properly insulating your home with the right siding. Keep warm air from leaving your home and cold air from entering your home.
WINDOWS & DOORS
Properly fitted windows and doors will seal any cracks that may be letting warm air leave your home and cold air to enter. Depending on where you live, you may want to consider installing a storm door. Storm doors are installed in front of an exterior door to protect it from poor weather conditions and allow ventilation.
FURNACE
Get your furnace inspected and serviced! Worst case scenario is your heating not working in the colder months. After not being in use these past few months, avoid any malfunctions and dangers by getting it inspected by a professional technician. Also be sure to replace your filter and clean your ducts to ensure cleaner air quality indoors. Clogged filters and ducts make it harder to keep your home at the desired temperature and accumulate dust!
PLUMBING
Avoid costly pipe freezing and bursting due to the colder temperatures by checking if your pipes are sufficiently insulated.
PORCH & RAILINGS
Check your walkways, porches and railings! When inevitable snow and ice arrive on your doorstep, you’ll want a level walkway, solid porch, and sturdy railing and to keep you safe. Also, when water gets into cracks in your driveway and freezes, it expands and can actually make the crack even bigger. Nobody likes potholes! Use concrete crack sealer and you’re all set.
WINTER SUPPLIES
Stock up on essentials such as food and emergency kits as well as winter tools like snow shovels, ice melt, and ice scrapers. While the weather is still nice, take some time to test your winter equipment to see if any need maintenance. Being proactively prepared will save you trouble in the future.
M&M SIDING & ROOFING INC. BY BRUCE MOSHER is here for your home maintenance needs! We can help you check off multiple things on this list. Our services include roofing, siding, windows and doors, decks and porches, and gutters! Projects big or small, we are happy to help.