Fall is here! Inevitably your Facebook and Instagram feeds are starting to be filled with posts regarding football, Pumpkin Spice Lattes, flannel and foggy mornings, all of which are welcome! As a Realtor that tinge in the air has me thinking about to help my clients prep their homes for the cold. With that said I thought I would share the steps I take to prep my house for fall and even added a few from an article I read on Houzz.com. Hopefully this will save you some serious cash and headaches. Here is the Checklist!
- SCHEDULE A FURNACE TUNE UP And CHIMNEY SWEEP – This one is really important, neglected furnaces are money pits….like thousands of dollars at a time. Call up one of our awesome HVAC companies and they will come out and make sure everything is clean, tuned and ready to go! It probably goes without saying, but a dirty chimney is a safety hazard, so if you can’t remember the last time your chimney was swept, you should get that on the schedule. $200.00 is money well spent to avoid a chimney fire.
- Clean Out the Gutters – Yeah it seems like common sense, but I missed it last fall, and my gutters clogged up which meant all of the spring showers brought water to my foundation and a bit of seepage into my basement. Its so simple, and if left undone can cause some headaches!
- Check out the exterior of the home for damage – Do a walk-about and see if there is any damage that hasn’t been noticed yet. Missing shakes, missing roof shingles, loose siding should all be looked for. In addition, look to see if there are any intrusion points for rodents. Those critters are looking for somewhere warm for the winter.
- Shut off exterior spigots. Remove and store your hoses – You know we’re going to get it at least once this winter….a cold snap! Prevent burst pipes and hoses by making sure hoses are disconnected and your exterior spigots are off!
- Stock-up on the winter supplies – Check on your snow shovels and make sure they are in good shape, consider buying a bit of ice-melt for areas that you know are prone to icing up. Remember that stuff is bad for the environment, and your concrete, so use sparingly. If you use snow removal equipment, make sure you have extra fuel on hand, consider an oil change and fire it up to make sure everything is working as it should!
- Remove window AC units – Unless you’re a Yeti who has to have cool temps you’re going to want to remove your window AC units. Leaving that thing in there is going to cost you money on your heating bills and leave your house fairly uncomfortable.
- Add some weatherstripping – If you live in Old Town weatherstripping is your friend. You would be amazed at how effective the stuff is when applied around windows and doors. You may want to call the city for a free energy audit as well, they can tell you where your home is letting in the weather.
- Care for Trees and Shrubs, – If you have trees on your property that you couldn’t live without, you should call an arborist. As trees go dormant they are more susceptible to desies and die back, which an arborist can prevent! Take some time to remove any deadwood out of the tree. This will help prevent desies, promote healthy growth, and prevent damage when the trees are loaded with snow.
- Clean Out the Dryer Vent – This one can go undone for a long while! I’m guilty! Believe it or not a clogged dryer vent is one of the leading causes of fire in the US. Clean out of fairly simple. Just move your dryer to gain access to the vent, unhook it from the dryer and run a shop-vac up the line to pull out all the lent. Put it all back together, and your good to go!
- Go Get Your Ski Pass And Make Sure Your Gear Is Tuned! – Prices are going up every couple of weeks, don’t forget to buy your pass! If you want to learn how to wax your gear this year let me know and I will put on a clinic!
I hope that is helpful! I have a load of great contractors that would be happy to help you check these items off your list. If you need a recommendation just shoot me an email!
Happy Fall!
