Fall Home Maintenance Checklist

As you prepare to have a cozy fall, don’t forget about these home maintenance tips. With cooler temperatures and changing leaves, fall can be an enjoyable time of year. It’s also a good time of year to prepare your home for winter. 

Fall Outdoor Checklist for Your Home 

The mild weather makes it a great time to get outdoors and get your home ready for the winter season.  Here are our favorite outdoor tips to get your home ready for fall:

• Take a look at all walkways around your home. Repair any cracks, replace loose stones and consider making upgrades to your lighting to prevent the risk of slips, trips or falls.
• It is also a good idea to take a look at any stairways leading into or out of your home. Make any necessary repairs to steps or railings. You want them to be safe for those visiting your home, especially when the first frost of the year comes our way.
• Take a look at the trees around your home and either trim or bring in a professional to trim any branches that look dead, weak or damaged. Heavy snow and strong winds can cause weak branches to break causing major damage to your home and property.
• Clean your gutters and be sure all down spouts are clear. You want all water to be flowing away from your home.
• As soon as you hear about the first frost of the year, turn off outdoor sprinkler systems and drain outdoor faucets, then shut off and cover outdoor faucets to protect the pipes from freezing.
• Inspect your windows and doors. Replace any damaged weather stripping and do any necessary re-caulking.

Preparing the Inside of Your Home for Fall 

Here are favorite indoor tips to get your home prepped for the season:

• Schedule a professional to service and or clean your heating equipment such as your furnace, chimney, and generator. You don’t want to wait until you need them to find out there are issues.
• Replace the air filters in all your HVAC equipment including your humidifier.
• Be sure the space around your heating equipment is clear. Clutter around a furnace or boiler is a fire hazard.
• Test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. If they are battery operated, be sure to change the batteries.
• Make sure you have a fully charged fire extinguisher on every floor of your home.
• Clean your dryer of lint. Dryer lint is one of the leading causes of house fires, so making sure your dryer is free of as much lint as possible is important.
• Check the drip pans under any appliance that uses water. If they are cracked, damaged or if you don’t have one, now is a great time to have it replaced or installed. Drip Pans can be installed under water producing appliances to catch leaks including your water heater, AC, dishwasher or washing machine.
• Check for any cracks in your dishwasher or washing machine hose. If they are more than 5 years old, you should have them replaced. We would also suggest that you consider upgrading them to reinforced steel-braided hoses.
• Change the direction of your ceiling fan. Make sure it is turning clockwise to have warmer air circulate.  If it is turning counterclockwise, it will continue to push colder air.

Some houses need more insurance coverage than others. Your homeowner’s insurance policy may be more complex due to the home’s unique characteristics. If you have questions about your policy or would like to request a quote, reach out to one of our offices here. 

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This article is for general informational purposes only and is not to be relied upon or used for any particular purpose. Cross Insurance shall not be held responsible in any way for, and specifically disclaims any liability arising out of or in any way connected to, reliance on or use of any of the information contained in this article. The information contained or referenced in this article is not intended to constitute and should not be considered legal, insurance, accounting or other professional advice, nor shall it serve as a substitute for the recipient obtaining such advice. The views expressed in this article are that of its author and do not necessarily represent the views of Cross Financial Corp. and its subsidiaries and affiliates (“Cross Insurance”) or Cross Insurance’s management or shareholders.