4 tips to get your home ready for fall

According to Climate Care “ Getting your furnace regularly inspected is the key to keeping it operating safely and efficiently throughout the winter. An efficient furnace not only runs less frequently, it also uses less energy so your utility bills stay under control. Most people only think about their furnace when something goes wrong. Professional technicians work with heating systems every day, so they know how to keep your system running smoothly”

When it comes to getting your house ready for a home inspection, there are two ways of looking at it. The first is to make everything in your home ready for the inspector to come through, this should always be done, NO exceptions. But some people don’t just stop at making things accessible; they also want to minimize the amount of stuff that a home inspector could potentially come up with. This involves a two-part approach: 1) Find out what’s wrong. 2) Fix it.

Of course, the easiest way to know exactly what’s happening with your home is to hire a home inspector, but many homeowners like to do things themselves, and we are here to support you!

Gaps in window and door frames are unavoidable and affect your home’s temperature. Weather stripping is great for dealing with this problem, but it doesn’t last forever. Fortunately, old weather stripping is easy to replace and doesn’t require a lot of tools or DIY experience. Before you can perform the replacement, take down the old stripping and prepare the door or window frame. Choose an adequate replacement, cut it to the right size, then attach it to the frame. Well-fit weather stripping keeps out drafts and can even lower your energy costs!

Make sure you have a good, sturdy, extendable ladder. Also, it’s best to have a helper (buddy system) in case you drop something or need a hand with the ladder.

Dress for the job. Wear a long-sleeved shirt, work pants and rubber gloves. Cleaning gutters is a dirty job.

To remove the gunk from the gutters, use a small, plastic scoop. Better yet, get a gutter cleaning robot to do the job for you!

Spread a tarp underneath your workspace to collect all the gutter gunk and protect your lawn and landscaping.

Once you’ve removed the debris from the gutters, use a garden hose to flush the gutters and downspouts and clear out any remaining debris. This will also show you if you have any leaks.

Once the gutters are clear, repair any sagging metal. You can do this by mounting a gutter hanger. Many gutter repairs are DIY jobs.

Gutter cleaning isn’t that bad, Once you get the hang of it… plus you’ll feel great when it’s done!

As usual, our channels of communication are always open to you, so contact us with any questions you may have about any home remodeling process and don’t forget to check out our previous blog post here.