Every year, fall comes around and it can be daunting to tackle every little thing you need to complete to prepare your home for fall. With everything else you have going on – work, family, relationships, hobbies, and more – it’s easy for home maintenance to slide to the bottom of your priority list.

But, preparing your home for fall does not have to be stressful. We have broken down 13 practical tips to get you started. And the best part is, this can all be done in one weekend!

These tips will save you time not only throughout the fall months but also in the coming summer when you have to get your home ready for the heat and the outdoor barbecue season.

Check for drafts.

Check your windows and doors for a draft. If you feel air coming into your home, you’ll want to address this before the cold climate hits. Doors are pretty simple as you can just replace the weather stripping. But if it’s a window that needs some attention, you may have to replace the entire unit. Replacing windows can get quite expensive. So, if there’s not a lot of outside air coming in, don’t worry about it because it won’t likely be worth the investment. 

Clean out your gutters.

It’s good to clean out your gutters every season, but it is most important to do before fall hits because you don’t want them to get clogged. All of the leaves on your trees will fall and these can easily get stuck in your gutters and cause damage if the weight becomes too heavy.

Start with the most easily accessible gutters – ones that you can reach on your porch or at the edge of your house with just a small ladder.

If you’re not comfortable on a ladder, you can hire a professional. If you are, be sure that it is secure, don’t walk all the way up to the top rung, and refrain from extending your arms out to hard-to-reach places – you don’t want to lose your balance.

You can clean the gutter while on the ladder, or if it is safe to go on your roof, clean it with a leaf blower. You’ll need a long extension cord to plug in your blower, if needed. Most importantly, use caution when bringing it up to your roof.

Clear debris from your roof.

To get your home ready for fall, check your roof for any leaves, twigs, rocks, and other debris. You’ll probably see a lot more accumulate over the course of the fall season, so it’s good to make sure your roof is clear before fall begins. For this, you might need a long ladder – it’s also a good idea to have someone with you when you’re climbing to high areas to do maintenance.

Purchase firewood.

Fall is a great time to host campfires with friends and family. So, stock up on firewood to last you through the whole season – through the winter too, if you want to save yourself a trip.

Mulch or fertilize your lawn.

As fall approaches, you won’t need to mow and maintain your lawn as often as in the summer and spring months. So before fall and winter start, mulch or fertilize your lawn.

Mulch leaves and grass clippings into your lawn as you mow. This creates a rich environment  for the microorganisms deep in your soil. This keeps the soil and your lawn in good condition creating deep thick green lawn all year round.

Pack up chairs, tables, and other items.

Time to pack up those lounge chairs, inflatable pools, and other summer outdoor furniture. You can still leave some of it out – it doesn’t have to go away for months in your shed until winter. If you want to have a campfire, for example, you might want a few chairs and a table to enjoy the cool outdoor weather with your family.

Close up your trampoline, pool, and other outdoor items.

Cover your trampoline so that leaves and dirt don’t build up on the top and on the inside. Or take the pad off, fold it and store it. Similarly, cover your pool so that you can keep it nice and clean for when next summer rolls around.

Adjust your sprinkler settings.

To prepare your home for fall, you may not need to turn your sprinkler system off entirely. It depends on the climate where you live. If it’s not too cold, consider decreasing the sprinkler time and the number of days you water per week as the weather cools. As it gets colder and wetter, you won’t need to water nearly as much as in the summer. Not to mention that if your grass is covered entirely by leaves, there’s no point in watering if the water won’t reach the soil.

Test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.

With cold weather approaching, you want to get your home better equipped for emergencies. Replace the batteries in your smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector so you know they will work efficiently and keep you and your loved ones safe through the fall and winter.

Rinse off your air conditioning unit.

If you used your air conditioning unit a lot over the summer, make sure you rinse it off before fall hits. It will accumulate dirt, pollen, dust, and other small particles over time.

Depending on the climate where you live, you likely won’t be using your air conditioner as much in the fall, so take 10 minutes to rinse it off and prepare it for next summer! You can simply attach a spray nozzle to your hose and spray on medium strength (somewhere between mist and jet has worked really well for me in the past).

Purchase an air purifier.

As it gets colder, you won’t be opening your windows and doors as much to improve your ventilation. So, why not purchase an air purifier? They are a great investment to improve your indoor air quality year-round.

Test your furnace.

You probably haven’t needed to heat your home for several months – which means your furnace has been a sitting duck all summer. Be sure to test it before it gets too cold so if you need to get it serviced for some reason, you aren’t doing it when your home is uncomfortably cold.

Sort through your shed and garage.

To store all the outdoor furniture that you took out for the summer, you’ll need quite a bit of space. Not to mention that you won’t need your lawnmower, shovels, sprinkler equipment, and other tools for quite some time. Set aside a weekend and organize everything in your shed. Then, next summer, when you need to pull everything out again, it’ll be easy.

Personally, I like to take everything out of the shed before I organize it. This way, I can clean off the floors, walls, shelves, and the equipment as well before putting everything back in for the fall and winter.

Well, there you have it! Is your home ready for fall? If not, feel free to print out the list and get to work! You can never be over-prepared, so the more maintenance you do, the better!

Hopefully these tips will help you avoid costly repairs and problems in the future. By preparing your home for fall, you’ll be doing a lot of the prep for spring and summer as well!

When you are ready to unpack everything in the warmer months, furniture, tools, appliances, and other items will be organized, clean, and ready for use. 

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