Fall home maintenance checklist: get your house ready for winter

Fall is the most important season for home maintenance, because it is your last chance to get ahead of winter. Everything you skip now becomes harder, more expensive, or impossible once the ground freezes and the snow falls. A burst pipe, a failed furnace, or an ice dam in January traces straight back to a task that did not happen in October.

Here is the fall home maintenance checklist, in rough priority order. Do the heating and freeze-protection items first.

Heating system first

You do not want to discover the furnace is dead on the first cold night.

Replace the HVAC filter and have the furnace or heating system serviced before you need it.
Test the heat on a mild day so any problem surfaces while a repair is not an emergency.
If you have a heat pump, have it serviced for heating mode.
Bleed radiators if you have a hot-water or steam system.

Protect against freezing

This is the category that prevents the most expensive winter disaster, a burst pipe.

Drain and shut off outdoor faucets, and store the hoses.
Blow out or drain the irrigation system before the first hard freeze.
Insulate exposed pipes in unheated spaces like the garage, crawl space, and attic.
Know where your main water shutoff is, and make sure it turns freely.

Gutters and roof

Clean the gutters once the leaves are down, so melting snow has somewhere to go.
Check that downspouts carry water well away from the foundation.
Inspect the roof for loose or missing shingles while it is still safe to look.
Clear the roof and valleys of leaves and debris.

Seal up the house

Every gap you close now is money you keep all winter.

Add or replace weather stripping on doors and windows.
Caulk gaps around windows, doors, and where pipes and wires enter the house.
Seal cracks in the foundation and around the sill where cold air and pests get in.
Reverse ceiling fans to clockwise to push warm air back down.

Chimney and fireplace

Have the chimney inspected and swept if you burn wood, to prevent a chimney fire.
Check that the damper opens and closes and seals tightly.
Test the fireplace and any gas inserts before the first use.

Safety

Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and replace batteries. Carbon monoxide matters most now, with the heat running and the house closed up.
Check that the fire extinguisher is charged and within reach.
Stock up on what you need for a storm, before you need it.

The short version

If you only do five things this fall, do these: service the furnace, drain the outdoor faucets, clean the gutters, seal the obvious drafts, and test the carbon monoxide detectors. Those five prevent the failures that turn a cold week into a costly one.

Do not let it slip

Fall tasks are easy to put off, right up until the morning it is too late. HomeAlmanac times these reminders to land before the first freeze in your area, not after, and keeps a record of every service so you know exactly when the furnace was last touched.

Fall is the season that decides how your winter goes. An hour of work now buys you a quiet, dry, warm few months.