Fall is here, and winter is on the way, and with more extreme weather on the way, it is important to take care of your home. While the Tri-Cities area of Tennessee may have milder summers, the wintertime does, in fact, get a bit cooler than the rest of Tennessee. These colder winters can lead to issues around the home.
Fall Home Care Tips
Preparing your house for winter can be done throughout the fall and should be a part of the greater plan of maintaining your home. Cold, wet weather can leave your home prone to serious damage if left unchecked. Here are a few items to keep your home taken care of during the fall and prepped for winter.
1. Keep Your Gutters Clean
Throughout the fall, trees drop most of their leaves, and much of the time, the leaves seem to do whatever they can to find their way into your gutter. When a gutter backs up with leaves, they overflow, allowing water to run down your home, which, if allowed to fester, can eventually lead to deterioration of your exterior and foundation.
Water can be the most devastating element to your home when left unchecked, so ensuring that your gutters are cleaned out are a must.
2. Paint, Seal, Replace Exterior Wood
Painting the exterior of your house in the heat of summer is no fun. While it is still a lot of work, painting in the fall is at least way more comfortable. Not only can a fresh coat of paint clean up the aesthetics of your home, but it can also protect it from the elements.
If you have a deck, make sure that the stain or sealer is still in working order. If water doesn't bead up when you dump water on your deck, it may be time to clean and re-seal your deck. By maintaining your deck with a high-quality sealant, you can be sure that you will enjoy your deck for years to come.
If your home has wooden trim on its exterior, it must be protected. More often than not, trim is a cheap pine board that can deteriorate if not taken care of. By keeping it painted, stained, or sealed, you can prevent it from damage or rot if you stay on top of it. Replacing wood trim can get very costly, especially if you want it to look like the rest of your home’s trim, so it is better to just keep it maintained.
3. Clean Your Chimney and Fireplace
If you have a fireplace, you know how cool it is to be able to cozy up to a fire and read a book. However, it is important to have your fireplace cleaned and expected to keep your fireplace safe to use.
It is recommended to have your chimney cleaned once a year, and fall is the perfect time to take care of this maintenance item so that you can get the most out of your fireplace over the winter.
4. Test Your Carbon Monoxide and Smoke Detectors
While you should be checking your detectors every month, it is especially important to keep up with them throughout the fall and into wintertime. Because of the increased usage of fireplaces, late fall into winter is when most house fires occur.
Making sure that your detectors are properly working can help keep you and your family safe, as well as alert you to possible fires or carbon monoxide so that you can quickly rid your home of any issue.
5. Drain and Insulate Outdoor Faucets
Winterizing your outdoor faucets and sprinkler system can keep you from having to deal with serious issues that come with wintertime. Frozen exterior pipes can lead to burst pipes and high water bills. Both of which can be extremely costly. Your outdoor pipes are typically unprotected and will freeze over the winter if not taken care of.
Drain and insulate any exterior lines to keep them from freezing. To drain your exterior water line, shut off your water valve and open the spigot valve until the water drains completely out. Once winter shows up with below-freezing temperatures, any water left in the pipe will have plenty of room to expand.
6. Pressure Wash Your Exterior Surfaces
Fall, late fall especially, is a great time to hire a pressure washing contractor to clean the exterior surfaces around your home. Over the summer, hot, wet weather gives mold and mildew a chance to thrive on your siding, and with all the outside time, your patio and deck will be dirty from all the in-and-out traffic.
As cooler temperatures prevail, there are fewer opportunities for dirt and grime to collect, giving you a chance to truly deep clean the exterior of your home.
Hiring a professional pressure washing company can make a difference when it comes to pressure washing your home. Not only can they do it efficiently, but they can perform a deep clean using the correct method and chemicals for the job. If you are looking for the best pressure washing company in the Tri-Cities of Tennessee, contact Cate’s Pressure Washing to schedule an appointment.
We hope this guide helps prepare your home for winter this fall. While this list seems fairly exhaustive, there are plenty of other important things to do to keep your home in tip-top shape.
If you are looking for help getting your home ready for winter throughout the fall, Cates Pressure Washing has you covered. No matter what you need to have done to the exterior of your home, Cates Pressure washing can take care of you.