A complete fall maintenance checklist for your home

When the summer draws to a close and the temperatures begin to cool, it's time to tackle getting your home ready for fall. You want to make sure that your home is ready for colder weather when you can't comfortably go outside anymore to work. If you don't already have one, you need a fall home maintenance checklist to get your home ready for cold weather. These tasks protect your home and family inside and out.

What fall maintenance tasks do you need to complete every year?

When you own a home, it's up to you to keep it in good condition. You need to perform routine maintenance and fix small problems before they become bigger issues. Here are a few items that need to top your fall maintenance checklist:

• Clean out your gutters: Your gutters allow rainwater to smoothly run off your roof. Clogged gutters block the water, and it pools on your roof. When water pools on your roof, it can weaken the roof. You may find water leaks or need to replace the roof more quickly than you otherwise would have.
• Look for water leaks: Leaking water is a sign of bigger problems. If your pipes are leaking, you run the chance of a pipe bursting and causing excessive damage to your home. It's essential to locate and repair water leaks. Here are a few signs of leaking water:
• Cracks in the wall
• Damp or wet floors
• Increase in your monthly water bill. It needs to be a significant increase, such as $10 to $15, without another reason, including guests visiting your home.
• An unpleasant or musty odor in one location
• You can hear running water without any faucets turned on
• Drywall that's soft or damp
• Discoloration on drywall
• Signs of mold and mildew in isolated spots.

Clean and repair air ducts: The dirt, debris and allergens from your home get circulated through your HVAC system. These irritants can get caught and build up inside your air ducts. In the fall, you need a professional to clean out your air ducts and make any necessary repairs. When cleaning and evaluating your air ducts, the technician might notice weak areas or small cracks in the duct system. It's always best to have them repaired to keep the air quality in your home healthy.

• Remove outdoor hoses and store them for the cold months: If you live in a colder region of the country, you run the risk of frozen pipes bursting. You know you need to let water drip from the faucets to avoid this issue, but you may forget about outdoor faucets. After removing outdoor hoses, you need to turn off the water supply to these faucets.
• Insulate water pipes: Colder regions of the country run the chance of deep freezes, and this can cause water in the pipes to freeze. In the fall, you need to insulate your indoor water pipes and any above-ground outdoor pipes. This helps to slow the freezing process, and hopefully stop it.
• Trim tree branches: Fall and winter storms can bring heavy rains and high winds that can tear tree branches off. Snow and ice can also weigh down branches and cause them to break off. You want to make sure that you don't have any tree branches that overhang your home. If tree branches break off and hit your home's roof or a window, it can cause a lot of damage, including water damage from the rain that runs in afterward.
• Hire someone to remove all mold and mildew from your home: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), mold in the home can cause health issues, especially for people who are sensitive to mold or who already have breathing issues, such as asthma. Some types of molds are more dangerous than others. If your home always feels damp or you have or have had water damage, then there's a good chance that you have mold and mildew. It's always beneficial to hire a professional company to remove it.
• Review your attic ventilation: Remove any insulation that covers the vents in the eaves. If they're covered, you may find ice dams forming on your roof that can lead to water damage and expensive repairs. You need to make sure that all the attic vents are clear of plants and any other debris that might stop air from passing through them easily

Maintaining your home throughout the year is essential to avoid damage and costly repairs. It's always easier and less expensive to repair a problem when it starts. The longer you wait to address an issue means the more damage that occurs.

What are the benefits of fall home maintenance?

You may look at this long fall checklist of maintenance and wonder why you should do it. You want to understand the benefits. Some benefits include:

• Avoiding costly repairs: By trimming your trees, repairing small water leaks, and completing some other tasks, you're avoiding costly repairs in the future. These tasks can help you avoid holes in your roof or burst pipes.
• Keeping your family healthy and your home cleaner: Removing mold is essential while cleaning out your air ducts can improve the overall air quality in your home. These tasks make it easier to breathe and keep you healthier.
• Avoiding emergency situations: If a pipe bursts in your home and water comes gushing out, you're facing an emergency situation that requires a more expensive service call. The same is true for a fallen tree branch that crashes through the roof or a window.

Completing your fall maintenance list ensures your peace of mind, knowing you've done everything you can to keep your family safe and expenses down.

At AdvantaClean, we know how damaging winter weather can be to your home. We provide a variety of services to help you protect your home and restore it after damages. Please contact our office if you have any additional questions or concerns.