Maintaining your home’s interior and exterior can be overwhelming. But, like most jobs, it’s more manageable when broken down into smaller tasks. That’s why we created the 4 Seasons of Home Ownership, dividing seasonal chores into must-do tasks, ones to take on as time and budget allow, as well as a few extras if you’re feeling ambitious.

The fall checklist focuses on preparing your home for cooler weather by weatherizing it inside and out, freshening the interior, and doing some yard maintenance chores to ensure a healthy lawn and garden come spring.

Watch Preparing for Fall With Our 4 Seasons Checklist for details.


Weatherize Your Home

Weatherizing your home means investing a few hundred dollars in the short term, but that small investment can translate into significant energy savings in the long run.

One of the first steps of weatherization is “sealing the envelope” of your home. Exterior cracks allow outside air and moisture in, leading to high energy bills and problems with mold and mildew. Watch Sealing Outside Cracks on Your Home for details.

Duck Double Draft Seal for doors.
Doors and windows are common places for drafts to enter your home.

During the cold winter months, windows, doors and even electrical sockets can become sources of drafts in your home. Duck Brand has a line of weatherization products, from weatherstripping and socket sealers to roll-on window insulation film, that are inexpensive and easy to install. Watch How to Replace Worn Weatherstripping Around Doors for more info.

If your home’s insulation is inadequate, fall is the ideal time to add insulation to your attic, when the temperature is much more bearable. Roxul stone wool insulation is easy for homeowners to cut and install themselves. Stone wool is naturally sound absorbent, water and fire resistant without the use of hazardous flame-retardants, which makes it an environmentally friendly choice for home insulation.

Storm doors and windows provide an added layer of insulation, while still allowing the fresh air in when the weather is nice. Check out How to Add a Storm Door to Your Home to watch our how-to video.


Freshen the Interior

The fall season brings lots of opportunities for entertaining, from football games to the start of holiday gatherings. An easy and inexpensive way to freshen your home’s interior is with a little paint.

Your home’s trim can take a lot of abuse, and recoating all of it at once can be a daunting task. Try tackling one or two rooms a season, starting with the areas that show the most wear and tear. You can take the same approach to repainting your home’s walls. Choose one or two rooms to touch up each season, or give the space a completely new look with fresh colors. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different painting techniques, such as creating a striking accent wall with geometric patterns. It’s possible for homeowners to achieve professional results if they have the right tools. FrogTape makes your painting chores go much more smoothly by preventing the paint from bleeding under the tape, so you don’t have to waste time touching up mistakes. FrogTape makes painter’s tape for all types of surfaces, even delicate surfaces that require tape with light adhesion, so your paint lines are always crisp and clean.

Using FrogTape ensures your paint lines are clean and crisp.

Lawn and Garden

Maintaining your lawn is a year-round chore, but some items should definitely be on your fall to-do list. Start by raking the leaves, trimming hedges and shrubs, and removing any dead plants from gardens. Check the trees on your property for any limbs that are growing over the house or interfering with power lines. It’s important to trim limbs carefully and correctly, as improper cutting can damage the tree and impede the healing process.

Sharpen your garden tools before storing them.

Before storing them away for the season, clean and lubricate all garden tools. Take time to do some lawnmower maintenance, including draining the gas, replacing or cleaning the spark plug and air filter, and sharpening the blade. Finally, if you have a home irrigation system, drain any leftover water so it won’t freeze in the pipes during the winter months.

Editorial Contributors
avatar for Danny Lipford

Danny Lipford

Founder

Danny Lipford is a home improvement expert and television personality who started his remodeling business, Lipford Construction, at the age of 21 in Mobile, Alabama. He gained national recognition as the host of the nationally syndicated television show, Today's Homeowner with Danny Lipford, which started as a small cable show in Mobile. Danny's expertise in home improvement has also led him to be a contributor to popular magazines and websites and the go-to source for advice on everything related to the home. He has made over 200 national television appearances and served as the home improvement expert for CBS's The Early Show and The Weather Channel for over a decade. Danny is also the founder of 3 Echoes Content Studio, TodaysHomeowner.com, and Checking In With Chelsea, a décor and lifestyle blog.

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