Fall Home Maintenance Checklist: 15 Tasks to Do Before Winter
A few hours of fall maintenance can prevent frozen pipes, ice dams, fires and costly repairs. Here's a room-by-room checklist for getting your home ready for winter.
Fall is the most important season for home maintenance. Taking care of a few key tasks before cold weather arrives can prevent expensive emergencies, lower your energy bills and keep your family safe all winter.
Outside the house
- Clean gutters and downspouts. Clogged gutters can overflow, damage siding and foundations, and contribute to ice dams. Make sure downspouts direct water several feet away from the foundation.
- Inspect the roof. From the ground, with binoculars, look for missing, cracked or curling shingles and damaged flashing. Call a pro for repairs.
- Shut off and drain outdoor faucets. Disconnect garden hoses, shut off interior valves to exterior spigots if you have them, and drain the lines to prevent frozen and burst pipes.
- Blow out sprinkler systems in cold climates, or hire an irrigation company.
- Seal gaps and cracks. Re-caulk around windows and doors and seal openings where pipes and wires enter the house to block drafts and pests.
- Trim trees and branches that hang over the roof or near power lines (call your utility for those).
Heating and safety
- Service your heating system. Schedule a professional furnace or heat pump tune-up, and replace the air filter, then keep checking it regularly through the season.
- Have the chimney inspected. The Chimney Safety Institute of America recommends an annual inspection for fireplaces and wood stoves. Creosote buildup is a fire hazard.
- Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Replace batteries as needed and replace alarms that are past their expiration date. CO alarms are critical when you run fuel-burning heat.
- Check your fire extinguisher and make sure everyone knows where it is.
- Clean the dryer vent. Lint buildup in dryer vents is a common cause of house fires. Clean the duct from the dryer to the outside.
Inside the house
- Reverse ceiling fans. Set fans to run clockwise at low speed in winter to gently push warm air down from the ceiling.
- Add weatherstripping to drafty doors and windows, and install door sweeps.
- Insulate exposed pipes in unheated areas like crawl spaces, garages and attics.
- Flush the water heater per the manufacturer's instructions to remove sediment and improve efficiency.
Bonus: prepare for winter storms
Stock an emergency kit with flashlights, batteries, water, nonperishable food, medications and blankets. Know where your main water shutoff valve is in case a pipe bursts.
