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Summer is long gone, and the lower temperatures and falling leaves are here to stay. But is your home actually ready for the coming fall and winter months? While summertime brings outdoor activities and preparing hosting spaces, preparation for the colder months entails more safety-oriented tasks such as winterizing and ensuring your tools and appliances are functioning properly.
This blog discusses 8 of the most important ways you and your family can prepare for the fall and winter months.
Understand the Winter Weather for your Area
Based on your geographic location, elevation, and local resources, what do you need to be prepared for in the cooler months? This is the first consideration when you’re preparing your home. Should you be ready for high winds? Snow? Ice? You’ll need to think about the weather first to be adequately prepared.
Cover and Store Your Outdoor Furniture
While the fall and winter bring their own natural beauty, the time for enjoying warm summer evenings out in the backyard or on the deck is behind us. Take the time to ensure all of your outdoor furniture is properly cared for, covered, and stored as needed. Don’t forget to cover grills and outdoor kitchen appliances as well!
Clean Your Chimney
Before you enjoy that first cozy fire of the year, schedule a chimney sweep to come and inspect your chimney for safety as well as to clean it of any debris or blockages. This simple step ensures that your fires for the remainder of the season are not only warm and relaxing but also safe for the entire family.
Have Your HVAC Serviced
If you live in Virginia, or anywhere else where it gets very cold in the Fall and Winter, you know that HVAC isn’t something you want to mess around with. By bringing in a professional to service and complete preventative maintenance on your heating system, you’ll be much more likely to avoid a potential loss of heat.
Clean Your Gutters
Get all of the leaves, sticks, and other debris from the past year out of your gutters to prevent any issues with rainwater making its way down during a storm. While this isn’t the most exciting task on this list, it’s extremely important. Blocked gutters can lead to interior leaks, flooding, and other issues. So avoid the mess and take care of your gutters in advance!
Seal Doors and Windows
When you’re cozy at home during a cold and rainy evening, the last thing you want to deal with is freezing cold air or rainwater seeping in through the cracks in your doors and windows or your warm air escaping through poor weatherstripping.
Test All of Your Winter Equipment
Don’t be caught unprepared for those first few very cold days. Whether it’s snow, ice, or just freezing temperatures, you’ll want to ensure all of your tools are functioning properly in preparation. Purchase any gasoline, and make sure everything is charged, well-maintained, and ready to go in the event of an unexpected cold snap.
Chat with your Neighbors!
In many cases, you don’t need to have all of the tools and resources for cooler weather all on your own. Consider where you can share tools and advice with your community around the challenges that can occur through the fall and winter.
Be Ready for Anything
Fall and Winter don’t have to be stressful if you are thinking ahead about the maintenance and cold weather preparations you need to avoid a major headache this time of year.
At Coldwell Banker Elite, we’re here to help make your dream home a reality. Whether it’s moving to a new place or settling into where you already live, we’re here to support your family’s needs.
