Your Home’s Fall Check List

Now that the days appear to be getting shorter, here’s a quick checklist to get your home in order during the fall months:

1. Start to put away items left outdoors during the summer months such as barbeques, outdoor furniture and gardening tools. It is time to winterize pools, drain and winterize outdoor faucets and irrigation systems. Store garden hoses and Install insulating covers on exterior spigots.

2. Caulk and seal cracks and joints around windows and doors. Caulking keeps your house weather-tight and helps lower heating and cooling bills.

3. Protect your home from critters by installing grates, securing your trash containers, and installing humane traps. Caulking also helps to keep insects and critters out of your house.

4. Inspect your roof for damaged or curled shingles, rusted flashing, or leaky vents.

5. Clean the gutters and downspouts, they work hard to protect your house from moisture damage.

6. Inspect your patio, sidewalks, driveways and steps and take action to repair uneven, loose or damaged areas.

7. Clean and inspect and your storm windows and doors to get them ready to install. Storm windows and doors help save energy during the cold months.

8. Check fireplaces and wood stoves for soot or creosote build-up with a meeting from a reputable chimney sweep.

9. Inspect your dryer vents to prevent fire and carbon monoxide poisoning. Check the outside dryer vent while the dryer is operating to make sure exhaust air is escaping. If it is not the vent may be blocked and needs to be cleared.

10. Clean and vacuum vents your baseboard heaters and cold-air returns. Dust build-up in ducts is a source of indoor pollutants.

11. Get your heating system checked by a qualified professional. Cleaning and servicing will save you money later. Ask about boosting your furnace’s efficiency and how and how often you need to replace your furnace filter for a clean filter as particles in the air get trapped in it helping to reduce indoor pollutants.

12. Give a fresh look to your interior rooms by painting. The fall allows you to keep the windows open while you get your rooms ready for the fall and winter gatherings you will be having.

13. Now that your walls are freshly painted shampoo or replace carpets.

14. Perform a home safetyTest smoke and CO monitors, inspect fire extinguishers, review fire escape plans with your family members and recycle old papers and magazines and refuse other fire hazards.