Home Maintenance Checklist: Prepping Your New Home For The Winter

With December quickly approaching, it’s important to complete a few annual tasks for a smooth transition into the winter season. We’ve outlined a short checklist of some of the key maintenance tasks.

1. Clean Your Gutters

   Without proper maintenance, eavestroughs can get backed up with leaves and dirt, sometimes leading to ice dams in the winter. Check your gutters before the winter and after you’ve removed any debris, we recommend running some water to ensure there are no blockages in the downspout. Installing gutter guards will help prevent back-ups and will ease your gutter maintenance.

2. Prune Your Trees

   Trimming the trees on your property — particularly any dead branches — is important to keep your trees healthy. Any trees touching your home should be pruned, because they can cause brick, stone, or siding to degrade over time. Trimming overhanging trees can also minimize the cleanup in the fall and spring. If your trees need significant pruning, you may need to contact an arborist.

3. Get Your Lawn Ready For The Winter

   Remove any fallen leaves before snowfall. Leaving them through the winter can suffocate your lawn and negatively impact the health of your grass. Lawn mowing should end two weeks before the first frost. Grass should be left at 2—2.5 inches to ensure a healthy lawn in the spring.

4. Store Your Hose and Winterize Your Faucet

   Hoses should be removed and stored for the winter, and outdoor faucets should be shut off to prevent freezing damage. The shut-off valve can usually be found in the utility room near the main water supply line, or in the basement. Afterwards, make sure to drain the pipes by opening the faucets. If your faucet doesn’t have a shut-off valve, you can buy a cold-weather faucet cover or invest in a frost-free outdoor faucet; both can be found at most hardware stores.

5. Take Care of Your Smoke Alarm

   The fall is a good time to change the batteries for smoke alarms. While you’re at it, we also recommend cleaning your alarms with a soft-brush vacuum and testing them to ensure they’re functioning.

6. Change Your Furnace Filter

   Your furnace filter should be replaced every three months, but no less than once a year. And since your furnace will be working hardest in the winter months, this is a good time to swap in for a new filter. Check your furnace manual to find the filter dimensions and make sure to purchase a filter with the right MERV rating. MERV ratings range from 1—16; professionals recommend filters with a MERV rating of 8 for residential furnaces.

With top-of-the-line appliances and high-quality materials, a Regal Crest home will make home maintenance that much easier. Contact us today to learn more.