Home Maintenance Fall is right around the corner, for many of us that brings thoughts of apple cider, colorful trees, and cool (cold) crisp air. It also means winter is right around the corner! Fall is a good time to do home maintenance checks in order to make sure that your house is prepared for the cold, snowy winter ahead. Keeping our homes in tip top shape is important. It can help avoid surprises such as your furnace deciding not to work in the middle of a cold night or a leak in the roof when the snow starts to melt. Both of these fixes could be very costly by themselves. They also could cause problems throughout your home. Frozen pipes and sagging ceil ings are just two examples of additional issues you could face. Below is a quick “Check List” that will help you with your fall maintenance. The list contains some of the major items you should look at: • Check chimneys for deteriorated chimney caps, loose and missing mortar. • Maintain grading, it should be sloped away from foundation walls. • Check for damaged, loose or missing shingles, blisters. • Check for leaking, misaligned or damaged gutters, downspouts, hangers and gutter guards. • Clean gutters, strainers, window wells and drains. • Make sure downspouts direct water away from your foundation (and sidewalks). • Check flashings around roof stacks, vents, skylights, chimneys and antenna supports for leakage. • Check vents, louvers and chimneys for birds’ nests, squirrels and insects. • Cut back tree limbs growing on or over your root. • Cut back and trim shrubbery against sidewalls. • Check caulking and check for decay around doors, windows, corner boards, joints; recaulk as needed. • Check glazing putty around windows. • Check weather stripping. • Have an HVAC expert check your furnace. • Replace furnace filters. • Clean and service your humidifier. • Close crawl vents for the winter. Drain exterior waterlines, hose bibbs, sprinklers and pool equipment. • To prevent freezing, keep garage doors closed in the winter; wrap exposed waterlines and drains with insulation. • Make sure you have a good snow shovel, salt for ice on the sidewalk and good working flashlights. Have maintenance done on your snow blower. These are several items that when checked and maintained will help keep you warm and safe when the snow is blowing outside
July, August & September 2022 Crest Ink 17
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