1. Check Your Furnace
Heading into the cold season, ensure that your furnace applies the appropriate heat. Having a defective furnace when needed most could lead to sickness. Using an efficient fuel source like natural gas also helps save money in the long run.
2. Check your insulation
While checking your insulation isn’t the easiest thing, you can check if you need to replace the weatherstripping around your door and garage. These strips seal openings to stop drafts from entering the home. The strips can deteriorate over time, allowing cold air to blow into the home. Replace these to keep your home insulated during winter.
3. Seal air leaks to prevent pests and heat leakage
When you are in your attic and see the light shining through the walls, that means that there are air leaks in your attic. If there are air leaks in the attic, not only can cold air enter and hot air escapes, these are perfect for pests to enter your home. To solve this, use foam insulation to seal any leaks. Make sure to keep your attic vents open to eliminate any humid air.
4. Clean your gutters
Whether you want to or not, gutters need to be cleaned. So get to cleaning those out one by one. From what we know, cleaning out the gutters throughout the fall ensures that precipitation does not overflow, including snow in the colder weather. Overflowing rain or snow can lead to damaging your roof.
5. Replace Single Pane Windows
Single pane windows make for poor insulators. Consider replacing them with double pane windows or models sealed with a neutral gas to improve insulation.
6. Replace Missing Shingles
During the fall, check if the shingles on your roof have gone missing from any previous storms. Having missing shingles can lead to leaks and other damage to your roof, attic, or ceiling.
7. Prep your fireplace for the winter
For wood fireplaces, ensure your chimney is cleaned thoroughly and plenty of wood for you to use during the winter.
8. Reverse your ceiling fans
As temperatures get colder during the Fall season, reverse your ceiling fan rotation. Your ceiling fans should rotate clockwise in colder months. This rotation direction pushes warm air back down and into the room.
9. Trim Trees and Bushes
Make sure to trim and prune any branches and loose bushes. Do this throughout the fall season, as you don’t want anything to fall and hit your car or home. Do not over-trim your trees, however, as trimming encourages new growth in the tree. Once a tree is fully dormant in the winter, you can complete your pruning.
10. Paint your home
The fall is the perfect time of the year to start painting your home. The heat of the summer is behind you, and the cool weather allows for the perfect conditions to paint.
Front door
Painting your front door improves curb appeal and increases the value of the home.
Trim and Moulding
Changing or refreshing the trim and moulding of a home can freshen up any home’s interior without having to repaint a room fully.
Rooms
The biggest change you can make to overhaul the look of your home is to refresh or paint your home a new colour. Painting isn’t all about changing a room’s colour and feel. It can also seal in odours, dirt and dust, rejuvenating an old room and making it feel brand new.
11. Power wash your home.
Fall is the perfect time to power wash your home. Power washing has become a very cathartic and fun trend that removes dirt and grime from your home and eliminates mold and mildew. Be careful when using a power washer as it can strip paint from your home if you are not careful.
12. Caulk or re-caulk your windows and doors
Having improperly sealed doors and windows could cost you in the long run with threats from water damage, insects, and heating and cooling costs. Caulking the outside of a window or door is a simple task that will save you money.
13. Kitchen renovations
Kitchens are a prime example of a renovation project improving your home overall. Most family functions and get together operate around the kitchen as it is a fun place to entertain guests. Get your kitchen renovated before the stress of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and impress your family.
