Autumn Home Maintenance

It’s that time of year again when homeowners need to start preparing their property for winter. With the recent weather, most of us have found out if we have any issues with water ingress and most have probably spotted if they have any broken or blocked guttering. What people may not have discovered or prepared for yet though is very cold weather. This is also a good time of year to conduct some chores, particularly in the garden, so here are some tips on good home maintenance tasks to carry out in autumn.

Guttering

Even if you’ve not noticed any issues with your guttering in the heavy rain, it is worth clearing them out to prevent them becoming blocked and causing a problem. Similarly, it is a good idea to give them a good look over to see if there is any damage or worn areas that look like they could become worse over the next few months and get them sorted.

Gardening

Lots of gardeners find the autumn is a good time to give their lawn a final cut and add fertiliser to help it grow back nicely next spring. Some shrubs and trees benefit from being pruned in the autumn (but it is worth looking up which ones this is as some do better being trimmed in the spring). Keeping trees and shrubs pruned isn’t just important for their growth and how they’ll look next year, it’s also important to stop them causing damage with either fallen branches or their roots causing subsidence.

Paths and driveways with cracks in them can sustain further damage in the winter when water gets in and freezes so it’s a good time to fill in those cracks if you can.

Draughts

With rising energy prices, it’s a particularly good year to try to eliminate as many draughts as possible. Ideally, get any damaged or ill-fitting windows and doors repaired or replaced but if that’s not practical, there are some good temporary measures to reduce draughts like draught excluder strips and caulk to block up the holes. There are also draught reducing curtains available for people with old draughty windows they can’t do much about.

Heating

Getting your boiler serviced doesn’t just mean it’s working well for the winter, it also means it runs more efficiently so that is worth doing before it gets cold and the plumbers become very busy. If you have managed to resist turning your heating on so far, it is worth giving it a test run so you find out if it has any problems before you desperately need it to work.

Chimney

For people lucky enough to have a real fire they light in the winter, it is worth getting your chimney swept before you do that as excessive build-up of dust up there can be a fire hazard and can cause smoke to billow back into the room if the chimney is even just partially blocked.

Cleaning

Having a thorough clean is a nice thing to do at this time of year but it is also helpful in identifying potential issues such as damp as some areas may be behind furniture or inside cupboards which only a very deep clean will reveal.

If you do discover any issues, such as damp or cracks possibly caused by subsidence, while you’re carrying out your autumn chores that require a surveyor to diagnose them and make recommendations on how they should be fixed, please feel free to get in touch with Marc on 01273 281624 or email info@tatesurveyingservices.co.uk.