Regardless of the season, there are always home maintenance projects that responsible homeowners should be looking to tackle. Not only are home improvement projects essential for keeping your home safe, clean, and beautiful, but they can significantly increase your curb appeal if you ever look to put your home on the real estate market.
Keep reading to learn about the 10 fall home maintenance projects you can tackle to keep your home optimized and beautiful.
Clean Out Gutters
Cleaning out your gutters is by no means a glamorous job. However, keeping your gutters prepared for rain, falling leaves, winter weather, and snowmelt is essential.
If you fall behind on cleaning the gutters, you can look forward to blockages, which can lead to many problems and water buildup.
Address this immediately by cleaning your gutters with a leaf blower to blast leaves and debris out of them. Always use safety gear, like a dust mask, gloves, and eye protection when using a leaf blower to prevent injury. Then, scoop out the remaining debris with a gutter scoop. Follow up by scooping out tough debris with your hands by wearing thick, waterproof gloves.
While you clean up your gutters, take a moment to inspect them. Are there loose screws or connections? Do your gutters need a fresh coat of paint or to be replaced?
Repair Your Roof
Wind, rain, and storms can damage your roof by blowing away or dislodging shingles. If you notice your roof is missing some shingles, hire a roofing company to come out and make the repairs.
Skipping this important home maintenance project can lead to roof leaks, water damage, and an unattractive appearance.
Restore Carpet and Hardwood Floors
Our carpets endure a lot, from dirty shoes or feet to hair and dander and even the occasional accident from our pets.
Vacuuming carpets regularly is essential in keeping them fresh and clean. However, you may need to call in the pros to have your carpets deep cleaned and restored at a certain point. Alternatively, you can rent a Bissell vacuum and purchase carpet shampoo to perform a DIY deep cleaning.
While you’re at it, consider if your hardwood flooring needs to be refinished. Refinishing your hardwood floors has been shown to have a 147% value recovery from the project regarding the home value.
We promise the results of fresh, restored carpet and beautiful hardwood floors will give the inside of your home an instant facelift.
Inspect Your HVAC System
An old or damaged HVAC system can lead to a host of problems, including uneven temperatures, humidity problems, increased energy bills, and the need for frequent repairs.
If you have a 10 year old HVAC system, it’s likely time to replace it as the repairs will only continue to get more expensive. Before having any repairs done or replacing the unit, check your home warranty. Some warranties only cover the first year, but others may be much longer. Don’t assume your unit isn’t covered because some companies even offer lifetime warranties.
If you had an unforeseeable event, like a tree falling on the unit or your house being flooded, your homeowners insurance might also cover replacing or repairing your unit.
Either way, take a moment to inspect your system and energy bills to ensure that you’re not dealing with an ineffective system that is not providing adequate heat and/or air conditioning. Consider purchasing an HVAC system upgrade if it’s old or needs replacement because this can quickly become a drain on your wallet.
Address Landscaping Issues
A home’s exterior is dramatically impacted by messy foliage.
Are your trees, shrubs, lawn, or bushes currently overgrown? Take a walk around your property and assess what areas of your landscaping are lacking and if you need to up how often you’re mowing your lawn.
Take special care to look at your trees. A falling tree branch is not only a hazard to you and your family but can also cause thousands of dollars of damage if it falls on your roof or HVAC system.
Trim back and prune any foliage that you can on your own and hire tree service specialists to trim your trees and shrubs. Have them remove any low-hanging or dead branches, especially ones near your home.
This is also a great time to inspect your sprinkler system and tools. Are your plants receiving enough water or too little? Are your landscaping tools, like your rake or lawn mower, in need of repairs?
Waterproof Your Deck
A deck adds a lot of life and character to your home, allowing you to truly enjoy the outdoors and host fun parties with family and friends.
However, decks experience a lot of damage over time because they are constantly exposed to the elements. As such, we recommend waterproofing your deck regularly to protect it from rotting and damage from snow and rain. Some sealants also protect against intense heat, which can wear your deck down.
Summer or early fall is usually the best time of year to complete this home maintenance project, as your deck will need to completely dry over several days after it’s sealed. Certain sealants also can’t be applied at low temperatures, so depending on where you live, this may limit when you can seal and waterproof your deck.
Prep Your Plants for Upcoming Seasons
If you’re an avid gardener with beautiful perennial flowers and plants, you’ll want to prep your plants for the upcoming seasons.
Perennials are often most vulnerable during winter, when cold temperatures can kill them off. Apply mulch in your flower beds to provide extra protection to your plants. The mulch can improve their chances of survival during freezing temperatures and prevent critters from eating them. Depending on your plants, you may also want to cover them during the winter.
Optimize Your Windows
Take a moment to look at your home’s windows. Are any of them missing panes or broken? Do you still have single-pane windows?
Unfortunately, single-pane windows allow more airflow, resulting in cold or hot air coming in. Double-pane windows are an optimal solution because they insulate your house better, allowing you to enjoy better inside temperatures and a reduced energy bill.
There’s no time like the present for hiring a licensed window installation company to have your new windows installed.
Clean Your Fireplace
Many homeowners are surprised to learn that fireplaces need regular cleaning to be appropriately maintained.
Ideally, it’s best to hire a chimney professional in late summer to early autumn or before the temperatures drop in your area. A chimney professional will thoroughly inspect your chimney and fireplace and look for any cracks or deterioration. After this, they will remove soot, debris, and buildup in your fireplace. When they’re cleaning your chimney and flue, ask if you need a new furnace filter.
If you haven’t had your chimney professionally cleaned recently, hold off on using it until you can complete this critical home maintenance project. Heating equipment, like fireplaces and space heaters, are a significant contributor to home fires, with 25% of home heating fires attributed to homeowners’ lack of maintenance and cleaning of their chimneys and solid-fueled heating equipment.
Lastly, while cleaning your fireplace, check your smoke detectors to ensure they are working correctly and do not need new batteries.
Inspect Your Pipes, Faucets, and Fixtures
Completing regular maintenance and inspections of your pipes, fixtures, and faucets can save you a lot of money and headaches down the road.
Take time to complete monthly inspections of your fixtures, pipes, and faucets. Look for leaks and have them immediately repaired. You don’t want to risk a pipe bursting or a faucet leaking and damaging all of your belongings below the sink.
Closing Thoughts
We spend a lot of time at home, especially in lieu of recent events, and many of us work remotely at least part of the time. As a result, making your home your pride and joy is a fantastic project worth the time, effort, and expense.
Use this list of 10 home maintenance projects to tackle in the fall to inspire you to update, refurbish, and clean parts of your home that many of us tend to neglect. Your home will look spectacular, and many of these projects can save you a lot of money by preventing larger issues, like leaks, fires, falling tree branches, and much more. Always check your home warranty before taking on any of these projects, as you never know what it may cover.
