Fall is a great time to get around to those home maintenance tasks you’ve been meaning to complete. Not only are these tasks essential to keeping your house in top shape, but they can also save you money by preventing serious damage or problems. Here are 5 money-saving home maintenance tasks for fall.
Clean out your gutters. It is important to take time in the fall months to get up on your ladder and remove the gunk and build up that may be sitting in your gutters. Very often things like leaves, debris, dirt and other items will get stuck in the gutters causing seemingly minute problems that can actually lead to some serious and expensive issues with time. When it rains, buildup in can overflow your gutters, causing water to accumulate in areas where it can cause damage to your foundation or other parts of your home. These types of damage can end up being extremely costly, and so keeping your gutters clean and intact is an excellent way to prevent problems and reduce the need to repair leaks or foundation dilemmas.
Clean up the area surrounding your heating or air unit outside. Often leaves, sticks, rocks, plants, or grass will get stuck in the air units of homes causing inefficiency and even malfunction. Reduce these problems by cleaning the unit out and then clearing up the surrounding area appropriately. Cut back any obstructing buses, cut grass, remove rocks or gravel and keep the space open. This will allow better airflow so that your unit will work better for much longer.
Pressure wash your home’s siding. You can easily rent a pressure washer for the day or even for a weekend affordably and conveniently or you can hire a service to do it for you. Over time the siding of a house will begin to get dirt and can even develop mold or a greenish tint. Pressure Washing the siding not only helps to improve the appearance of your home for some enhanced curb appeal, but will also protect the siding material. Washing it down will help to preserve your siding so it and other building materials will last longer.
Check to ensure that your home’s external windows and doors are properly and efficiently sealed. This will help to reduce drafts and keep comfortable air inside where you can enjoy it. Be sure to caulk any cracks or holes around the edges of the window or doors. Leaky, poorly sealed windows and doors allow air to escape, meaning that your heating or cooling system will have to use more energy and work extra heard to maintain a comfortable temperature inside. This wastes energy, which is bad for the environment and also costs you extra in energy bill costs each month.
Finally, be sure to also do the dirty work. Often homeowners avoid or forget about emptying the septic tank. If you have a septic tank it will need to be regularly checked and periodically emptied. If you do not take these measures, you risk the tank backing up through the toilet, sink faucets and even onto your yard. Not only is this an expensive job to clean up, but it is also a smelly one!
When the fall months roll around, taking the time to complete these maintenance tasks and utilize tips to find the best HVAC contractor, can help to not only preserve the quality and condition of your home as a whole, but it can also save you money by reducing the likelihood of serious damage in your house.
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