5 Things You Should Do to Your Home Before Fall Starts

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You have a responsibility to your home and your family to adequately prepare for fall. Keep reading to learn the top five things you can do to your home before fall starts.

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How to Prepare Your Place for fall

As fall approaches, new natural elements can wreak havoc on your home. You need to take the proper steps to protect your home from the potential effects of these elements. Preparing your home for fall is essential to increase its longevity and save you money. The more informed and prepared you are, the better you can live in harmony with all that autumn has in store. The following are five practical actions you can take to prepare your place for fall.

1. Gutter Cleaning

The number one task you should complete before fall is cleaning your gutters. Debris build-up will leave you vulnerable to clogging and flooding as fall rolls in. Start the season strong by completely clearing your gutters of dirt, mud, debris, and any other unwanted materials.

Depending on your gutter’s condition, different tools and techniques can help you thoroughly and efficiently clean your gutters. The following are some recommended gutter cleaning tools:

Leaf blowers
Power washers
Telescoping tools
Scoopers and grabbers
Vacuums

Better yet, you can hire a professional gutter cleaner to save the hassle and make sure the job is done right.

2. Dusting and Changing Filters

Prepare Your Place for fall

Fall usually brings allergies and the flu season. Additionally, people tend to spend more time indoors than during summer. Clean air and a dust-free environment encourage healthy lungs and reduce your risk of airborne illness and allergic reactions. Moreover, clean filters make it easier for your home to regulate temperature, saving you money on HVAC bills.

Make it a habit to change out all of your air filters every year before fall. It’s as simple as a trip to your local home improvement store or online order of new filters. Changing a filter only takes 10-20 minutes.

Dusting should be a frequent task in keeping a healthy home environment, not just in the fall. Before fall, do a deep-clean dusting of all surfaces in the house. After that, make weekly upkeep a part of your routine. Wipe those surfaces that accumulate dust often. You’ll feel cleaner and healthier in your home if you do.

Prioritize vacuuming up dust from your furnace. Dust-clogged furnace burners can lead to fire safety hazards and carbon monoxide buildup. Avoid all of that by making sure your furnace is as dust-free as possible before fall.

3. Repairing and insulating

Cracks, breaks, and leaks will only get worse as fall and winter approach. Before the fall season enters full force, take the time to make necessary repairs to your home.

For example, fix the crack in your driveway. Prompt driveway repairs will prevent further damage from freezing, thawing, and flooding.

A window draft will let cold air in and drive your heating bill up. Seal it up using an insulating kit to prevent wasted energy and chilly fall breezes in your home.

Replace those broken roof tiles, repair the cracked concrete, and seal up those drafts. When fall and winter come, you’ll be happy you did.

4. Testing detectors

Fall is the best time to test and replace your detectors as necessary. Make sure your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors have working batteries at least once per year. As a part of your fall routine, use the test functions on your detectors and change the batteries to ensure you’re safe and protected.

5. Pruning and fertilizing

If you want your landscaping to survive and thrive through the fall and winter, you have to set it up for success. This includes pruning your trees and fertilizing your lawn.

Identify any large tree branches that are hazardous to your home or appear to be decaying. Proactively cut potential problem branches off to avoid damage to your house during storms.

Fertilize your lawn well before fall and don’t cut it too short on its last trim. This will set your yard up to best survive the fall and winter weather.

The bottom line

Preparing your home for fall is all about working with nature, not against it. There are countless measures you could take but start with these five important ones. You’ll be glad you proactively put in the effort to make your house as comfortable, safe, and energy-efficient as possible.