7 Essential Maintenance Steps to Save Time, Money, and Stress!
House and Home: Autumn Home Maintenance
Long Bros. Building Supply
Avoid major problems while saving time, money and stress with quality maintenance!
Remove Garden Hoses from Faucets
Leaving hoses attached can cause water to back up in the faucets and the pipes inside your exterior walls. If freezing temps hit, that water could freeze, expand and crack the faucet or pipes. Turn off any shutoff valves on water supply lines that lead to exterior faucets, and drain garden hoses and store them in a shed or garage. Your sprinkler system needs to be drained as well.
Seal Air Leaks Around Your Home
Grab a couple tubes of exterior caulk and make a journey around your home’s exterior, sealing up cracks between trim and siding, around window and door frames, and where pipes and wires enter your house. Preventing moisture from getting inside your walls is one of the least expensive and most important of your fall maintenance tasks. You’ll also seal air leaks that waste energy.
Clean Your Gutters
Clogged rain gutters can cause ice dams, which can lead to expensive repairs. After the leaves have fallen, clean your gutters to remove leaves, twigs and gunk. Make sure gutters aren’t sagging and trapping water; tighten gutter hangers and downspout brackets. Replace any worn or damaged gutters and downspouts.
Check Your Roof
Look for warning signs: shingles that are buckled, cracked or missing, and rust spots on flashing. Any loose, damaged or missing shingles should be replaced immediately. Black algae stains are just cosmetic, but masses of moss and lichen could signal roofing that’s decayed underneath.
Direct Your Drainage
Take a close look at the soil around your foundation, making sure it slopes away from your house at least six vertical inches over 10 feet. That way, you’ll keep water from soaking the soils around your foundation, which could lead to cracks and leaks.
Check Your Furnace
Schedule an appointment with a heating and cooling pro to get your heating system checked and tuned up for the coming heating season. Change your furnace filters, too. This is a job you should do every two months anyway, but if you haven’t, now’s the time.
Prune Your Plants
Late fall is the best time to prune plants and trees, when the summer growth cycle is over. Your goal is to keep limbs and branches at least three feet from your house so moisture doesn’t drip onto roofing and siding, and to prevent damage to your house exterior during high winds.
Check Your Fireplace
Using a flashlight, look up inside your fireplace flue to make sure the damper opens and closes properly. Open the damper and make sure it’s free of bird nests, branches and leaves, or other obstructions. You should see daylight at the top of the chimney. Check the firebox for cracked or missing bricks and mortar. If you spot any damage, order a professional fireplace and chimney inspection.
Article from www.houselogic.com
Long Bros. Building Supply
195 Birds Eye Ave | Woodburn, OR 97071
Phone 503.981.4041 | LONGBROSBLDG.COM
