Its fall, with days getting shorter and evenings getting cool, its time to take advantage of the warm sunshine to get ready for those even shorter days and much cooler nights.
Here’s a short checklist to help make sure your property is ready for winter.
Around the Home
- Take a walk around your yard, check trees for low hanging or dead branches. Branches weighted with ice and snow with strong winter winds could end up breaking. Get those cut or trimmed back before they end on up on your roof.
- Clean leaves and debris from gutters and down spouts. Blocked gutters don’t work effectively and all that water that used to run from the drains could end up around your foundation and in your basement.
- Is your snow shovel or snow blower ready for snow? Better to be prepared now than in a panic later.
- Tighten up your home. From inside look around the foundation see any daylight? Fill those holes. Mice only need a small space to invade your home and set up their winter home.
- Clean dryer vents. The cool dry weather of fall increases static electricity, which could ignite lint that has built up in your dryer vent.
- Shut off exterior faucets on your home, drain hoses and store them inside to prevent them from freezing and bursting.
In the Garage
- What about your car? Check the tread on your tires and performance of the wipers. Have an emergency kit ready with warm blankets and nonperishable foods.
- Last but not least, are your summer toys ready for winter too? Time to winterize the boat and camper. Small hint for mice protection: use scented dryer sheets or bars of Irish Spring to deter mice from nesting.
Now go enjoy the rest of fall and know that you are ready for whatever Old Man Winter throws your way.