Getting Your Home Ready for Fall

Here’s a helpful seasonal home maintenance checklist to help you spruce up your home for autumn:

• Touch up any exterior paint on railings, frames and doors, and caulking around windows and doors.
• Rake leaves and seed the lawn (tip: get the kids to help with this one).
• Inspect fireplace and chimneys, clean if necessary.
• Check basement for leaks or moisture.
• Have humidifier, furnace and heat recovery ventilator serviced, and replace the furnace filter.
• Inspect your roof (tip: use a pair of binoculars from across the street!) to check for any missing or damaged shingles and call a roofer for repairs.
• Drain exterior water lines and shut off the water supply.
• Empty your gutters and eaves of twigs and leaves.
• Test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors and change the batteries (tip: do this whenever we have Daylight Savings!).