7 Fall Maintenance Tasks Every Homeowner Needs to Complete Now

Fall is finally here, and while for many of you that means planning a weekend trip to the orchard/pumpkin patch or spending the night being spooked at a local haunted house, if you're a homeowner, time also must be made to address home maintenance tasks.

While the weather is still nice, here are seven tasks you need to check off your to-do list:

1. Clean your gutters. Leaves in your gutters may not seem like such a bad thing now, but they can cause some serious damage once the weather gets colder - specifically, we're taking about the formation of ice dams.
2. Change your air filters. Your heating system will work a lot better this fall if it's operating with a clean air filter. Before you crank up the thermostat for the season, be sure to clean or change the air filter in your heating system AND clean out the air filter that was used for the air conditioner this past summer.
3. Seal cracks. Cracks around windows and doors will result in heat escaping from your home, so take some time to patch these up - some methods to try are re-caulking the cracks or add weatherstripping.
4. Protect your pipes. Frozen pipes are a major headache, especially if/when they burst, but you can prevent this from happening by wrapping your exposed pipes now. Keeping them protected from the cold weather is a must!
5. Check your smoke detector. And your carbon monoxide detector while you're at it, too. Especially since furnaces can produce the deadly carbon monoxide gas, you should feel confident that your detector will alert you in case of an emergency.
6. Trim tree branches. Not only can low hanging branches scratch your roof, but if trees surrounding your house have weak branches, heavy snow could cause them to snap and further damage your home too. If you have trees that are too close for comfort, now is the time to clean them up!
7. Inspect your roof. If your roof has any apparent damage, such as missing or loose shingles, you'll want to have it repaired before the cold weather sets in - after all, do you really want to worry about snow leaking into your home via the roof this winter?

And now we'll leave you with a bonus task. While this doesn't necessarily have to do with maintenance, it does have to do with your home, and that's file a tax grievance. Applications for a tax grievance are now available on our website, and we encourage all homeowners to file in an attempt to lower their property taxes!

For more information about filing a tax grievance, please visit www.ptrc.com or give us a call at (516)/(631) 484-0654.