When the fall weather starts to set in, it’s time to start prepping your house for winter by completing your fall home maintenance checklist. But what if you don’t have time to complete your entire to-do list? At the very least, you should take care of these things before the cold winter weather sets in.
Have Your Home Inspected for Possible Pest Entrances
When it starts getting colder, critters start looking for places to live for the winter. They need to get out of the cold too, and what better way to do that than to come inside your home or garage?
To prevent critters from invading your space, hire a pest control service, like Moxie Services, to come out to your house and inspect it, looking for possible points of entry. Once they identify possible entry points, you need to take the necessary steps to secure them.
There are also other steps you can take to help keep your home pest-free including:
Storing food in air-tight containers
Removing garbage from your home regularly
Wipe up any and all spills immediately
Fix leaky pipes to prevent water from pooling inside your house
Many pests and critters are attracted to small bits of food and drinks, as well as garbage, so it’s important to eliminate these things as soon as possible. Also, keep some safe pesticides on hand to use if you do notice bugs or critters inside your house.
Have Your Furnace Inspected
It’s important to make sure your furnace is working properly before it gets cold outside. This way if there is a problem, you can rectify it quickly. Many HVAC companies have annual maintenance plans available, but you can also schedule an annual inspection as a singular service.
During your furnace inspection, an HVAC technician cleans the furnace, makes sure everything is working properly, and changes your air filter. As long as you don’t need to make any repairs, you should be able to run your furnace throughout the winter without any problems.
Keep in mind, though, you still need to change the air filter regularly. It’s a good idea to check it on a monthly basis, especially if you have pets in the house.
Complete Yard Work and Outside Repairs
It’s really hard to complete outside repairs and tidy your yard once it gets cold out, so you want to take care of these things before the first winter chill sets in.
Even if you don’t have any repairs to make outside, you should rake the leaves and remove any dirt and debris from around your air conditioning unit. It’s also a good idea to cut your grass a bit shorter than you normally would as well as for trim the bushes and rid the flower beds of weeds one last time so you don’t have to do it when spring arrives.
It’s also a good idea to cut your grass a bit shorter than you normally would as well as for trim the bushes and rid the flower beds of weeds one last time so you don’t have to do it when spring arrives.
Clean the Gutters
It’s extremely important to clean your gutters in the fall because as snow and ice on your roof melt, the water needs to drain away from your house before it refreezes. When more snow and ice freeze over what’s already melted, it causes ice dams. Ice dams can lead to roof and gutter damage and water leaks.
In addition to cleaning your gutters in the fall, you might also want to install an ice shield along the lower edge of your roofline and heated gutters to prevent ice buildup.
If that’s not feasible, keep a bag chemical de-icer on hand. Then, when ice settles into your gutter, sprinkle some along the top of it to help it melt quickly.
Ultimately, it’s a good idea to complete any outside chores you have on your to-do list before winter really sets in. This way you aren’t battling snow, ice, and cold weather to get them done.
Identity Magazine is all about guiding women to discover their powers of Self-Acceptance, Appreciation, and Personal Achievement.
We ask that every contributor and expert answer the Identity questions in keeping with our theme. Their answers can be random and in the moment or they can be aligned with the current article they have written. In that way, and as a team, we hope to encourage and motivate each other, thus inspiring you to Get All A’s.
What have you accepted within your life, physically and/or mentally? Additionally, what are you still working on accepting? Now, we’re not talking about resignation, rather stepping into, embraced, and owned.
I’ve learned to accept that we have to all appreciate the little things and to not take anything for granted.
Appreciation is everything. What have you learned to appreciate about yourself and/or within your life, physically and mentally? On the other hand OR in contrast, are there elements of who you are that you’re still working on appreciating?
I appreciate and I’m blessed to have a loving family and friends in my life.
Share with us one of your most rewarding achievements in life? Tell us not only what makes YOU most proud but also share the goals and dreams that you still have.
My biggest achievement is graduating from Arizona State University in 2013!
Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
