Must-do Seasonal Home Maintenance Points for September:

We’re ushering in the official start to autumn with an essential check-list for home maintenance tasks to ensure a safe, comfortable season.  Before the leaves start falling and the chill hits the air, consider these crucial tasks and maintenance points to add to your monthly chore list.  If you feel some of the items on the list are a little above your pay grade, so to speak, don’t hesitate to call in the pros.  It’s better to call them early in the season than procrastinate like the rest of the folks and end up on the over booked waitlist!

Here are our suggestions for must-do seasonal home maintenance points for September:

Check your home’s safety devices!  Go through your home and check all of the batteries in the carbon monoxide detectors, smoke detectors, home security panels, emergency lights, medical alert call buttons, security cameras, etc.  Check all fire extinguishers and make sure they aren’t expired, and replace as needed. 

Take care of all window and wall AC units.  If you’re using window AC units, it is best to remove them by the end of September once the heatwaves have settled. If you’re not able to remove them, or they’re an in-wall older AC unit, make sure you switch them off and cover them with an insulating cover.  Additionally, ensure the space around the installation or window is properly sealed to avoid drafts, leaks, and reduce heat loss during colder months.

Inspect all windows and doorways and add weatherstriping as needed.  Older windows may need a reapplication of weather stripping to help seal in the heat and prevent cold drafts.  For more permanent fixes, consider a weather-proof caulking for non-moving parts and gaps less than ¼” in spacing.  Create an airtight seal on older, original windows in older homes by applying plastic film with a special kit.  On the interior side, you can opt for thermal insulating curtains and window shades to reduce draftiness and cut down on heating bills from wasted energy. Now is also a great time to replace and repair your window screens as well as swapping them out for glass inserts on older windows.

Schedule maintenance appointments for your home’s furnace, water heater, the chimney, and dryer vents.  As the weather gets cooler, you may be tempted to crank the heat or utilize your fireplace more frequently.  Make sure that you’ve done your seasonal maintenance by hiring a chimney sweep, doing an inspection of the chimney exterior, and replacing the chimney cap if damaged.  Ensure that your dryer vent ducts have been cleared from the interior and exterior of the home.  Consider wrapping the home water heater in a fibgerglass insulation blanket to save money and energy.

Consider updating your home’s insulation during a renovation, or adding insulation to your home’s attic.  Some older homes may have poorly insulated walls and little to no insulation in the attic.  If you’re having an addition built or undergoing renovations, consider upgrading the insulation in your walls, ceilings, and attic to better preserve heating and cooling energy.  Doing this now before winter months fully set in can save you significant costs on heating in winter!

Apply a lawn fertilizer and throw down some extra grass seed.  Fall is a great time to do a little lawn maintenance.  Apply a quality lawn feritilizer that’s eco-friendly, pet-safe, and kid-friendly and you’ll have a lush, green lawn come springtime.  This is the time to bulk out and strengthen the roots.  The grass seed will fill in before the cold front with a little assistance from the fertilizer, too.

Clean the gutters.  Clogged gutters can cause a nightmare of home repairs on multiple levels. Blocked gutters will cause rainwater and melting snow to overflow, leaving damage to your roof, siding, windows, and walls.  It can also pool and puddle up near the foundation and cause leaks or foundational damage.  The water can also freeze when temperatures drop at night and early mornings, causing the weight to pull the gutters away from the home. Ensure that you’re regularly moving debris, leaves, and detritus from the gutters regularly during autumn months.

Do some preventive yard maintenance.  Now is a great time to go through your hard and inspect trees and shrubs for dead branches and overgrowth.  Have any dead branches, dead shrubbery, or damaged growth cut back before they become a hazard.  Low-hanging branches can cause damage to your property by hitting windows, the roof, siding, and even personal property like vehicles. It’s best to cut them and trim them now before they get weighed down with rain storms and snow or ice. Heavy autumn storms and winds as well as huirricane season can increase the likelihood of severe damage due to trees falling and being uprooted. If you spot any trees that are leaning, or branches touching your home, remove them ASAP!  Additionally, ensure that lawn furniture is properly covered and secured, and any outdoor patio umbrellas are securely closed and weighted down for the season.

Maintain outdoor water faucets, spigots, hoses, and sprinkler systems.  As the temperatures drop throughout Autumn, it can be a good time to apply preventing wintereizing maintenance.  Once the garden has begun to die back, take care that your irrigation systems and lawn sprinklers have been secured and winterized properly. Seal off any outdoor spigots to prevent freezing or leakage. Disconnect hoses and close the outdoor waterlines and stow them away safely to prevent damage from plummeting temperatures.

Give your home’s emergency kit a good restocking.  With the increase in natural disasters, it’s very important that homeowners are prepared for emergencies. Having a few cases of unexpired bottled water on hand is a good recommendation. Ensuring that you are stocked with first-aid supplies, plentiful batteries, LED flashlights, non-perishable essentials, solar-powered portable chargers, emergency contact information, a burner phone with portable charger for emergencies, long-lasting candles, etc can make things much easier in an emergency.  Consider having your home outfitted with a home generator for long-term emergency power outage issues.  Go over emergency preparedness plans with your family.  Ensure that everyone knows how to pack a go-bag in case of emergency evacuations for flooding or storm damage.’

Prevent fire hazards from holiday cooking!  Make sure you give your oven a thorough cleaning, or hire a professional service to degrease it and restore it to pristine condition.  Check that the gaslines are secure.  Apply a heavy-duty degreaser to the exterior and interior of the range hood to ensure no drips or issues occur as they may cause fires.  Clean the filters in your range hood or ventilation, and replace them as necessary. Do a deep clean of all teh burners.  Ensure your kitchen fire extinguisher is up to date.

Change your home’s air filters.  Dirty air filters can lead to an increase in energy bills and damage your HVAC system over time, not to mention increasing your likelihood of environmental allergy exposure.  Change the air filter and give the area a thorough vacuuming to remove accumulated pet dander, ahir, and debris.  Have a professional HVAC technician service your system and do a maintenance check before winter arrives; they’ll check your thermostat, electrical connectons, and look at the blower motor to ensure it's all in working order.