Fall Home Maintenance Checklist: Are You Ready?
If you are looking for tips to get your home ready for fall, I have a checklist that will ensure you are prepared for the cold, winter season!
Now is definitely a good time to be sure you are ready for winter weather. Follow these simple tips and you’ll be ready for the fall season as well as any winter storms to come.
Get more ideas for fall projects as well as home printables for your home!
Sometimes running a household seems like a full time job. Frankly, it is! Often, knowing how to take care of all the things and where to begin is the biggest part of the battle.
If your aren’t even sure where to start as you are thinking of preparing your home for winter and colder weather, scan this checklist for tips to get started:
- Clean gutters and downspouts
- Remove any debris from the roof and replace shingles as needed
- Pick up leaves
- Caulk around windows and doors
- Winterize your sprinkler system
- Ensure outdoor faucets are completely shut off and bring in hoses to store over the winter months
- Inspect, clean and replace (if needed) storm windows
- Schedule any needed maintenance on your heating system
- Change furnace filters
- Change batteries in smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors
- Update your supply of winter items (i.e., think shovel, ice scraper, salt, etc.)
- Clean / sweep chimney
Fall Home Maintenance To-Do List
Getting your entire home, specifically the exterior, ready for cold, blustery temperatures can be daunting. Try tackling a little at a time. Yearly household maintenance can ensure your home can endure the elements, so it’s certainly worth your efforts!
Let’s dive in!
1. Clean gutters and Downspouts
Try to tackle this project after the last of the leaves (or as close to this time as possible) have fallen.
Cleaning the gutters from leaves and debris will allow precipitation to flow where it is intended…away from your home’s foundation.
Another problem clogged leaves and debris can cause in your gutters is allowing water to pool and eventually freeze in the gutters during winter rains.
This could ruin your gutter system, causing unnecessary repair down the road.
Expensive repairs are never welcome for homeowners.
2. Remove any debris from roof, replace shingles as needed
Look for any damaged or missing shingles, or loose shingles. If you do not feel comfortable with shingle replacement, you may need to hire someone.
Getting on top of a home is not everyone’s cup of tea (I’m raising my hand for this one!).
Roofing service providers or landscaping experts may also be able to suggest tree limbs and tree branches that need to be trimmed or a specific roof maintenance checklist. That will keep you from guessing what fall maintenance tasks need to be completed specific to your roof.
The condition of your roof is important for all seasons, especially the upcoming winter months.
RELATED: Home Emergency Kit Checklist PDF Printable
3. Pick up leaves
Although fall leaves can look absolutely stunning, they can wreak havoc on your grass.
Piles of leaves can smother your lawn, not allowing proper sunlight for continued growth.
Take the time to rake the leaves off the lawn when cooler weather hits. Your grass will thank you.
4. Caulk around windows and doors
Make sure you don’t waste money on heating the great outdoors! Spend some time caulking around windows and doors as well as adding weather stripping as needed.
This is a perfect time to look for wood rot around door frames and window frames as well to ensure they are in good condition and free of water damage.
This will keep your home feeling more cozy, but will also save you some cash from heat loss. Let’s keep that warm air in and avoid air leaks with the bitter cold air!
Energy efficiency can make a big difference with those costly bills during cooler months.
5. Winterize sprinklers
If you have inground sprinkler systems, you will definitely want to blow out the pipes for the winter months, or hire someone to help you with this if needed.
Failing to do so could result in frozen, burst pipes over the winter months. This could possibly destroy the sprinkler system.
I find it works well to contact our landscaping company in early fall to get on the list for sprinkler winterization.
6. Bring in hoses after draining
Fall is a great time to bring in your exterior garden hoses for the winter if you live in a cold climate after disconnecting them from the exterior faucets.
If you are able, shut off the water to the outside faucets eliminating their water supply.
Then be sure to fully drain hoses before storing for the winter. Leaving them outside could result in cracked hoses, which of course would lead to leaking.
7. Inspect, clean, replace storm windows
If you have an older home with poor quality windows, storm windows may be a lesser expensive option (vs. replacing windows) to allow for improved home insulation.
For existing screens that will remain in place over the winter, check for small holes and complete any necessary repairs.
8. Schedule any needed maintenance on heating system
Scheduling maintenance on your HVAC systems prior to jumping into the winter months allows your system to be tested and cleaned for the best, most efficient performance.
This could mean more than just saving money. It’s also a matter of safety, especially if you have a gas heating system.
9. Change furnace filters
This is something to have on the books at least every six months. Changing the furnace filters reduces dust and allergens that are circulating in your home.
We actually change ours every quarter. I pencil the date on my calendar like an appointment so I don’t forget.
If you have pets, an older home, smokers, or a lot of dust in your home you certainly want to stay on top of this for better air quality for you and your family.
10. Change batteries in smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors
This is such an important, yet overlooked home maintenance task.
As I mentioned above, just pencil this task into your calendar like an appointment so you don’t forget to do it.
11. Update supply of winter items
Don’t wait until a huge winter snow or ice storm hits to realize you don’t have the proper winter supplies you need.
Take inventory of what you need now and stock up!
I like to keep these items handy in my garage for easy access when the time comes. Since we live in the midwest, we all know the time WILL come!
Related: Garage Organization Ideas
Some winter preparedness items you should consider:
- Heavy duty winter gloves
- Good snow shovels and/or
- Snow blower
- Salt / ice melt
- Bag of sand or cat litter
- Ice scraper
- First aid kit
- Warm blankets to keep in the car
- Flashlights (be sure batteries are good and have extra batteries!)
- Fire extinguishers
- space heaters
- a few gallons of water (for drinking or other emergency should you lose power)
- emergency generator
Don’t forget to make sure your cars are ready for the winter months, too!
Related: Monthly Water Tracking Printable
12. Clean /chimney sweep
If you have a wood-burning chimney, schedule yearly maintenance to be certain it is clear of debris, reduce the risk of house fire, and feel more confident about the safety of your family.
A clean fireplace is such a wonderful thing to have on those cold winter days. A chimney cleaning will give you peace of mind when winter comes.
More items to consider adding to your fall maintenance list
The below items are great to add to your routine home maintenance this fall:
- Give your outdoor furniture a thorough cleaning before attempting to store the patio furniture in any indoor location or before covering for the winter.
- Change the direction of your ceiling fans.
- Complete lawn mower maintenance so you are ready to go next spring.
- Inspect your home’s foundation.
Your Home is Now Ready for Fall / Winter!
Grab this easy to follow PDF fall maintenance checklist:
AND, don’t forget to pin this to your favorite FALL PINTEREST BOARD for later!
More Fall Posts:
I am not ready for winter yet, but thanks for the checklist! I need to get started on a few of these ASAP?😀 Very smart as usual!!
I’m not the biggest winter fan either, Jenifer! Thanks for stopping by;-)