Patty Craig: A Slice of Time

Wed, 10/23/2019 - 7:17am — Diane Dyer

Fall is a good time to take care of home projects before shorter days make outdoor work more difficult. While we may enjoy the season, it’s also time to prepare our homes for the coming cold weather. I recently read three sources offering good winter-readiness advice.

First, the Forbes website (https://www.forbes.com/sites/houzz/2015/09/26/your-fall-home-maintenance...) posted an article entitled “Your Fall Home Maintenance Checklist.” Author Laura Gaskill included fifteen fall tasks. Three of those are listed below:

Seal gaps where critters could enter. With colder weather coming, all of the little outdoor critters will be looking for warm places to make a home. Fill small holes, and cover larger gaps securely with heavy-duty hardware cloth to keep the wildlife outdoors.

Remove window A/C units. If you use window air conditioning units in the summer, remove them before the weather turns cold. If you must leave window A/C units in, cover the entire exterior of the unit with an insulating wrap to keep cold air out.

Clean dryer vents. Lint buildup in dryer vents can make your dryer work less efficiently and even cause a fire — cool, dry fall weather increases static electricity, which can ignite lint that has built up, so now is a key time to get that lint out. You can hire a duct cleaning specialist to clean the vents for you, or clean the vent yourself.

Second, the All State blog team wrote an article, “Autumn Home Maintenance: Checklist for a New Season” (https://www.allstate.com/blog/autumn-home-maintenance/), that included nine activities for transitioning into cold weather. Two of those activities were:

Seal windows and doors. It’s a good idea to seal leaky windows and doors to help keep the chilly air out and the warm air inside. This project typically involves rolling self-adhesive weather stripping down the side of a window or door. You may also want to install a door sweep (https://www.allstate.com/blog/quick-fix-door-draft-blocker/) to help prevent drafts coming in between the bottom of the door and the threshold.

Clean and store lawn equipment. Before storing lawn equipment for the winter, rinse shovels, rakes and other hand tools, and brush off any dirt with a brush. Remove any remaining fuel from your lawn mower. These authors also reported that the DIY Network recommended removing spark plugs from the mower before putting it away for the winter.

Third, a poster about fall automobile care made the following points:

Follow a routine for car care, such as oil changes.

When tires are cold, check tire pressure and tread depth, including the spare. Look for the correct tire pressure on the driver’s door jamb, not the tire wall.

Ensure the battery cable connections are tight and the terminals are free of corrosion. If the battery is more than three years old, have it tested to determine how much life it has left.

Wiper blades should completely clear the glass with each swipe. Make sure the windshield washer reservoir is filled.

Put winter emergency supplies, such as a blanket and water, in the vehicle.

Recently, I’ve been working on my own fall to-do list. I still have some tasks remaining, such as car maintenance, getting some lawn furniture into the garage, moving sunporch plants upstairs, putting tulip bulbs into the ground, and shutting off the outside faucet. Hopefully, these things will happen quickly. I’d like to be ready for the cold days while I enjoy the fall weather.

Tags:

opinion