The temperatures and leaves are falling, which means it is officially autumn in the Carolinas. With the change of a season, it’s a perfect opportunity to check things off your seasonal home maintenance checklists. Use this list as a reference point as you tackle seasonal cleaning and maintenance.
Heating, Air Conditioning, and Water
Use this time as a chance to clean out, replace, and upgrade your heating and air systems. If needed, schedule a routine maintenance call to ensure optimal performance throughout the next few cold months. Check your pipes for proper insulation and make sure you know where your water shut-off valve is, in case of a pipe freeze. Make sure you perform this maintenance now to avoid any messy problems during the winter frost.
Check Small Items Around the House
The change of a season is a great reminder to check your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide and other odds and ends around the house. One of the easiest things to do this time of year is to run through a quick list of small to-do’s that you might forget about throughout the rest of the year. Check the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and replace batteries where needed, dust ceiling fan blades, reverse fan blade direction to clockwise, and clean bathroom vents. The fresh sense of safety and circulation will help you feel ready to take on the colder months. This is also a great time to perform any regular cleaning to natural stone countertops in the kitchen or bathrooms, deep clean ovens and stoves, and run a clean cycle through your dishwasher and washing machine.
Exterior and Yard Maintenance
Get ready for the leaves to fall and prep your outdoor space for the cooler temperatures. Soon you’ll be spending your weekends raking and bagging leaves and fertilizing and reseeding your lawns. Another fall task would be to clean all your downspouts and gutters and make sure that things are flushing out smoothly. Pay attention to the trees and branches in your yard and cut any limbs close to power lines, prune your shrubs, and put some additional effort into the new season’s landscaping.
Winterize Your Landscaping and Appliances
Now is the time to prepare your landscaping, yard tools, and grass for the cold months. If you're not a winter chef, now's the time to pack away your grill before it's covered with snow or dead leaves. In addition to giving your grill a thorough cleaning to remove grease and food scraps, take these steps to help prevent any unpleasant surprises when you fire up your grill again next spring. If you have a sprinkler system, make sure you force the settings to be prepared for less use and cooler weather. Put away any other summertime tools or lawn maintenance items that won’t be seeing as much action in the fall or winter.
There are many seasonal tasks that you can check off your home maintenance list before the weather gets too cold. Use this list as a reference point this fall while you are getting your home and yard prepared for a new season. You’ll thank yourself later for getting things up to date before your neighborhood transitions from hot summer days to cool fall nights...and eventually freezing temperatures