Organized Living

FALL HOME MAINTENANCE CHECK

Time to do a basic check around the house to ensure your home is ready for fall and inclement weather. Take these steps now and you’ll stay warm, cozy, safe and sound ---and avoid the cost and inconvenience of maintenance issues that can sneak up on a house and worsen over time.

Test your furnace. For reasons of economy or just plain stubbornness, nobody seems to want to turn on the heat until it’s really cold. But the balmy days of fall are the best times to check that it’s working properly and installed with a clean air filter—not when the snow falls and the heat goes off in the middle of the night.

Check gutters and downspouts. Whether you do it yourself or hire someone, get those gutters cleared of debris. Snow that turns to ice in severe weather will dam up in gutters and back up into your roof and ceilings, causing significant damage.

Lay in a supply of de-icing crystals. It never fails that the first snow seems to arrive on a day that you are expecting guests. Avoid the perils of slippery steps and sidewalks and stock up on some melting crystals now.

Replace screens with storm windows if necessary. While newer windows are super efficient, older homes may require storm windows in place of screens. Best to do that before the howling nor’easters kick up.

Empty plant pots and cut down perennials. Frozen pots of shriveled petunias just look sad poking out of the snow. Plus, many clay pots will crack and break with freezing temperatures. And plants buried under a thick mat of garden debris can harbor mold and insect eggs that will give you problems in the spring. Clean up the garden and put it to bed for the winter. It’s worked hard all summer and deserves the rest.

Enjoy the change of seasons. Some people love the cold weather, and others dread it. If you long to move to a warmer climate but can’t, make up your mind to enjoy the changing season in whatever ways you can, whether it’s checking out the new ski collection, making soup to freeze, or stocking up on good teas and a stack of good books or DVD’s.