It’s time to prep your home for fall!

Turning the calendar page into October tends to put an automatic chill in the air! Autumn is officially here, and it’s time to prepare your home for fall. This season is a favourite for many people, due to its beautiful scenery, crisp walking weather, and abundance of autumnal activities. Before you plunge into the season and all it has to offer, take a moment to make sure your house is ready. Here’s what you need to do!

Pack it up outside

The first place to start is outside your home. After a summer of lounging in the yard, it’s time to start putting away your outdoor furniture and supplies. While patio furniture can handle summer heat, it’s not built to tolerate the harsh Canadian weather we often experience later in the year. To extend the life of your summer cushions and chairs, give them a nice clean, cover them up, and store them someplace safe. If you have a garage or shed, this is the perfect spot.

Fall is also a good time to give your lawn some pre-winter attention. Clear away any leaves or debris that might create mold or present a slipping hazard. You can also aerate your lawn, which helps the soil get the nutrients it needs to keep it healthy during the cold winter months. Come spring, you will find your lawn looks much better than it would have without this pre-winter attention. Similarly, you can fertilize your lawn to start prepping it for spring growth!

Finally, we recommend giving your gutters a good clean. Those falling leaves look wonderful, but you don’t want them clogging your gutters. This can trap water, leading to sagging gutters and water damage if left untreated. If you don’t want to clean these out yourself, you can enlist the services of a home maintenance company.

Keep it cozy

Keeping your home nice and warm should be a priority this season! Now that we’re approaching furnace weather, it’s a smart idea to make sure it’s working properly. You want to make sure the filters are clean, the heat is pumping out, and there are no strange sounds or anything to indicate your furnace isn’t functioning as it should. If you’re not familiar with how your heating system works, you can call in a professional to do a more thorough inspection as well. You just don’t want to learn in mid-January that your heating system has died!

Another thing you can do to keep the heat in your home this fall is check for any drafts or cracks around windows that are letting chilly air inside. Caulking is an easy way to seal these little gaps and ensure your home stays warm all season long. Plus, this will help your home run more efficiently, potentially lowering your energy bills.

Play it safe

Be sure to stay safe this season! As we retreat indoors in preparation for the chilly weather, the risks of fire and carbon monoxide poisoning increase. With our doors and windows shut, limited ventilation, and the heating system flowing, house fires and carbon monoxide leaks can occur much more easily. Test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure they are working properly, and replace any batteries if necessary. Most importantly, be careful when you’re using heat in your home! Keep an eye on open flames, don’t leave your oven on unsupervised, and take all the usual precautions you learned in school!

Thinking about fall renovations?

Do you feel like completing some renovations to prepare your home for fall? If home improvement projects are on your radar, there are some that are well-suited for the fall season. For example, replacing your flooring can be a good renovation for a couple of reasons. First of all, new flooring tends to improve your home’s value, if that is something you are interested in. From a seasonal perspective, this is a good project because the weather is still pleasant enough that you can spend a bit of time outside if you need to get out of the way. Plus, you can crack your doors and windows open to get some ventilation in if necessary. Kitchen remodels are also popular renovations for fall, often in preparation for the holiday season! If you’re big on cooking and hosting events, upgrading your kitchen and appliances now will allow you to enjoy all it has to offer in the coming months.

Preparing your home for fall encompasses a wide range of tasks and projects. It may feel like a lot of work, but as a result, you can sit back and enjoy the season to its full extent. We hope you enjoy these next couple of months of autumnal weather and activities before winter sets in!

If you have any questions about your mortgage, get in touch with us at Clinton Wilkins Mortgage Team! You can call us at (902) 482-2770 or contact us here.