The 5 most important home maintenance tasks you forget to do, according to home inspectors: cleaning gutters. Check the air conditioning and heating system. Call the exterminator in a timely manner. If your property has trees, have it inspected by a certified arborist, who can check for signs of disease or dead branches and detect problems before they worsen and kill a tree.
The untrained eye could miss signs of damage, and a dead or dying tree poses a safety hazard to you, your home and neighboring properties. Even if you don't use the fireplace regularly, the chimney still needs a regular check. A chimney transports hazardous gases from the chimney, wood stove, or oven out of the house, helping to keep indoor air breathable. According to the Chimney Safety Institute of America, your chimney should be inspected annually and cleaned periodically depending on how often you use it.
Once the leaves fall, call your gutter company to have them cleaned and inspected. Any repairs that need to be done to gutters or downspouts must be done before winter arrives. Your workers should also inspect the roof for loose or broken shingles. Schedule work before heavy snow, which could leave leaves and debris frozen in gutters, faucets and hoses.
Before the first freeze, drain and turn off the outdoor faucets so they don't freeze. Roll up the hoses and store them for the winter. Have your oven and ducts repaired. A clean system will be more energy efficient and an inspection will alert you to problems.
Check and replace air filters, as needed. Check the thermostat to make sure it works properly. Make sure that the heating vents are open and that nothing is blocking them. If you didn't clean or inspect your chimney in spring, call a chimney sweep now and do it before you start using the fireplace or oven.
Clothes dryers cause 2,900 fires a year, and many fires occur in the fall and winter, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. Lint is a major culprit, so have your dryer vent inspected and cleaned annually by an HVAC specialist who specializes in dryer ducts or vents. Inspect the roof for missing shingles and leaks, loose, or damaged.
That depends on a few different factors, such as the number of people living in the house, if someone has allergies, if you have pets, etc. Therefore, someone who lives alone might be OK to replace their filter every 3 months, but an allergic person with a few children and a couple of dogs would be better off replacing their filter all the months. The gutters along the roof can only do their job if they are kept free of debris. Experts suggest cleaning them twice a year, once as part of spring cleaning and again in late fall, when the leaves have fallen off.
If you have trees in your garden that shed fruit, pineapples, or anything else on the roof, you'll probably want to check the gutters every few months. The 11 things you need to know about cleaning up death in Sweden. You should change the rotation of ceiling fans twice a year to increase energy efficiency and reduce pressure on heating and cooling systems. Running a ceiling fan properly in winter can help you save up to 10% on your heating bill.
When you change the direction of the fan, you change the way the air moves, heating or cooling a room more effectively. If your home has a basement sump pump, you should test it twice a year. Sump pumps typically last about 10 years and, with proper maintenance, could operate even longer. When the weather gets worse, take the time to thoroughly inspect the exterior foundations of your home.
Cracks in the foundation of your home can reduce its value by up to 15%, and solving these problems as you see them will ensure less expensive repairs in the future. Large cracks in foundations must be inspected and corrected by a structural engineer. .
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