This
fall has been a balmy one, but winter is coming. For homeowners living
in colder climates, the waning hours of daylight signal the time to
start readying the home for snowy days and bitter nights ahead.
Like a car, a home needs a regular tuneup:
Heating systems need maintenance, chimneys need sweeping and windows
need caulking. But keep on top of the hefty to-do list, and the chores
become a routine you dutifully follow every year.
“When it starts getting a little cold, we go into gear,” said Jenet Levy, 60, who has lived in a three-bedroom townhouse in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, with her husband, Rory Levy, 61, for 23 years.
Even
seasoned homeowners, however, can fall behind. With such an unusually
warm autumn, Ms. Levy, an associate broker with Halstead, forgot to
schedule an appointment to have her boiler serviced before she expects
to turn it on. Now the maintenance company is booked until late
November. “So I screwed up there,” she said.
Neglect
the chores entirely, though, and you could find yourself with a hefty
repair bill or a furnace that peters out on a frigid January night — and
probably in the middle of a three-day weekend, because isn’t that when
things usually go awry? Forget to clean the gutters, and ice could build
up, damaging your roof. Drafty windows and doors could send your
heating bill soaring.
For
first-time homeowners like Anthony and Melissa Campagna, who moved from
an apartment in Long Island City, Queens, to a four-bedroom house in
West Orange, N.J., in March, preparing for the first winter is a
daunting task. What is a boiler, anyway? And what do you do with it
other than crank up the thermostat?
Buying
a house “was very exciting, but somewhat overwhelming,” said Mr.
Campagna, 31, who works in finance. “Having lived in a condo
association, I didn’t have to take care of stuff much.”
There
are tools that can help. Mr. Campagna organizes projects on Google
Drive spreadsheets that he shares with his wife. Smartphone apps like HomeZada and BrightNest can also help you keep tabs on a to-do list that never ends.
Still, you need to know what to do — from the roof down to the basement, and out to the backyard. Here is how to get started.
CHECK THE EXTERIOR
Start
by giving the outside of your house a checkup. Walk around the
perimeter and look for cracks in the siding or peeling paint. Are the
windowsills in good condition? Check the roof for missing or broken
tiles. Fix problems while the days are still relatively warm. After a
rainstorm, walk around the house and look for any signs that water might
not be draining properly, like pooling water or damaged gutters or
downspouts.
“The
objective is to get as much of the water away from your house as
possible,” said Scott Johnson, the director of operations for WIN Home Inspection, a network of more than 190 home inspection firms in 33 states.
THE GUTTERS
Of
all the fall chores, cleaning the gutters and downspouts is among the
most critical. Your gutters direct water away from your roof and siding,
and down into the drainage system. Clogged gutters can cause your roof
to leak and lead to ice dams in cold weather. So clean them or hire
someone to do the job after the leaves fall. “When the gutters aren’t
kept clean, the moisture just sits on the rooftop,” said Dina
Dwyer-Owens, a co-chair of the board of directors of the Dwyer Group, a
parent company of home-repair franchises including Mr. Handyman and Mr.
Rooter.
Just
don’t do the work too soon. Clean the gutters before the last of the
leaves fall, and you could find yourself back up on that ladder a few
weeks later. “I think I did it a little too early,” said Mr. Campagna of
West Orange, N.J., who rushed to clean his gutters before Mrs.
Campagna, 30, gave birth to their first child in October. “That was a
rookie mistake.” And a wasted Saturday afternoon.
If you plan to do the work yourself, be careful on that ladder. Ladder mishaps
sent nearly 176,000 people to the hospital in 2013, according to the
National Safety Council. If your ladder has seen better days, consider
an upgrade. (These fiberglass models are recommended by Wirecutter, the New York Times’s product review site.)
If you hire a professional, expect to spend around $150 for the job, according to HomeAdvisor.
THE WINDOWS AND DOORS
If
you have window air-conditioning units, take them out and store them
until next summer. But handle those unwieldy appliances with care to
avoid injury.
Or
you could leave them in place. Ms. Levy of Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn,
covers the outside of her window units with an insulated sheath and
wedges towels between the sill and the unit to keep drafts out.
Next,
swap out screens for storm doors and windows. “It’s something that we
automatically do when it starts getting cold out,” Ms. Levy said. While
you’re changing out the screens for glass, check your windows and doors
for drafts. Add weather stripping or caulk wherever cold air seeps in.
SMOKE ALARMS
Three out of five home-fire deaths happen in properties without working smoke alarms, according to the United States Fire Administration.
So make sure yours work. Change the batteries in all your smoke and
carbon monoxide detectors once a year; the day you set the clocks back
is a good one to do it.
Check
the manufacturing date, too, and replace any detectors that are more
than 10 years old. Any reliable model will do, but if you’re interested
in one that will alert you to problems when you’re away, a smart smoke alarm like the Nest Protect is sensitive to slow- and fast-burning fires, and has apps that will alert you anywhere in the world if something’s amiss.
Laundry dryers
cause 2,900 home fires a year nationally and failing to clean them is
the leading culprit, according to the United States Fire Administration.
So call a professional once a year to service your dryer vent and help
remove lint, debris and other hazards that could spark a fire.
THE CHIMNEY
Heat,
smoke and dangerous gases from your fireplace and heating system travel
up your chimney and out of your house, keeping the air inside
breathable. A dirty chimney could affect air quality and also pose a
fire hazard.
So keep your chimney clean. The Chimney Safety Institute of America
recommends having it inspected annually and cleaned as needed. “In
general, with chimneys and fireplaces, the more you use it, the more
likely you need it to be swept,” said Mr. Johnson, of WIN Home
Inspection. Expect to spend between $125 and $200 on a chimney sweep,
according to Angie’s List.
THE HEATING SYSTEM
If
you were going on a long road trip, you would get your car tuned up
before you started your journey, not afterward. The same goes for your
heating system. Call a plumber or a furnace repair company to prepare
your boiler or furnace for winter before the cold weather arrives.
Your
contractor should clean the equipment, make sure it is working properly
and let you know if it needs any repairs. “The heating system ain’t
going to break down when it’s 80 degrees out,” said Kerry O’Brien, the
president of T.F. O’Brien Cooling and Heating
in New Hyde Park, N.Y. “You don’t want to be stuck when it’s five
degrees in the middle of the night” with a heating system that won’t
turn on.
THE PIPES
No
one wants a frozen pipe, so keep an eye on yours. Drain the outside
water faucets and shut them off before the first freeze. On very cold
nights, open cabinets beneath the sink to let warm air in and, if you
are especially worried about freezing pipes, let a slow drip of water
run through them. Resist the urge to turn down the thermostat to save
money – you want to keep the pipes warm. Extreme weather “is not a time
to start trying to save on your energy bill,” Mr. O’Brien said. “Crank
your heat up during those weeks.”
PUT THE GARDEN TO BED
By
November, you may not be thinking much about your hydrangeas, but they
still need you. Prune your shrubs and hedges now. Cut foliage away from
the house so that ice or snow on the branches won’t damage your siding
or let water into your home.
But
use restraint, so as not to cut off next spring’s bloom. “Try to
contain yourself. Cut back half of what you want to cut back,” said Jan Johnsen, a landscape designer in Mount Kisco, N.Y.
If
you have trees on your property, the battle of the leaves may feel
endless, but ignore the pile on your lawn and it could mold and
suffocate your grass. But before you succumb to the mighty leaf blower
and start blasting away, consider a more measured approach. Rake up most of the leaves
and use them as mulch for your flower beds. Mow the rest in place with
your lawn mower. By mowing over the leaves, you help break them down so
they can decompose and feed the grass. All that foliage “is not garbage,
it’s black gold,” Ms. Johnsen said. “There’s a reason the leaves fall
to the earth.”
THE PATIO
Empty
ceramic pots of soil and store them in your garage or basement for the
winter so they do not crack in freezing temperatures. Drain the hoses
and store them, too. Shut down the sprinkler system and call the pool
maintenance company to close up your pool, if you have one. But wait for
a crisp sunny to day to cover patio furniture — you don’t want to trap
any moisture under the tarp.
STOCK UP ON FIREWOOD
If
you plan to build a fire this winter, order seasoned firewood in the
fall. Stack it loosely on pallets to keep moisture at bay. Cover the
pile with a plastic tarp. You can store wood in an unheated garage, but
do not store more than a week’s supply in the house, as the wood could
attract insects, according to Michigan State University Extension.
BRACE FOR WINTER WEATHER
If
you have a snowblower, check it. You may need to have it serviced, and
many local repair companies will pick up and drop off a blower as part
of the service. “Start it up, run it for a couple of minutes and make
sure it’s O.K.,” said Rich Janow, 74, who has lived in a six-bedroom
house in South Orange, N.J., for 32 years with his wife, Nancy Chiller
Janow, 64. “Do it now so that if you have a problem and you need the
repair people to fix it, you have enough time before the really bad
weather sets in.”
If you don’t have a snowblower, now is the best time to buy one, when it’s early in the season. (Wirecutter has some suggestions.)
If you have a portable generator, check that, too. If you don’t have one, now is a good time to consider investing in one. Update your emergency supply kit with flashlights, fresh batteries, a first-aid kit, food, water and a portable radio.
Stock up on Snow Melt
and make sure your shovels are in good condition before the weatherman
tells you snow is imminent. Make sure the supplies are accessible (and
you remember where you put them) before the snow starts falling.
Otherwise, you may find yourself digging your way to that shovel.
If
the winter is a snowy one, use a roof rake to remove excess snow from
your roof, and stay on the lookout for ice dams, accumulations of ice
and snow along your eaves that could damage your gutters, roof and
siding.
STAY ON TRACK
Learn
how your house works and you may find that maintenance is something you
actually – gasp — enjoy. “For me, it’s been such a great love affair,”
said Judy E. Mendoza,
69, a saleswoman for Halstead who has lived in a three-bedroom house in
East Hampton for 27 years and starts preparing for winter in July.
“I’ve enjoyed taking care of the house, and the house has taken care of
me.”
Soon enough, it’ll be time for spring cleanup.
