Spring cleaning is a yearly tradition in many households. After being confined within our four walls for months, your home can get a little out of hand. The overwhelming clutter that is built up over the winter needs to be cleaned just to relieve the mental stress. But fall cleaning is more important to the health of your home.
- Purge the Clutter
Clutter is mentally exhausting. Any time our personal space is disorganized or overfilled, it creates stress. The fall is a perfect time to get rid of any clutter. While the summer isn’t usually thought of as the time to accumulate “stuff,” summer brings out a lot of hidden items. Summer sports equipment like gloves, cleats, and bats need to find a home. Closing up a pool is one thing but finding room for storing floats, noodles, and other pool toys is exhausting. While not all these items are junk, most are overkill. Donate or give away any superfluous summer items. It will get rid of the clutter and you’ll feel better for doing something positive.
- Appliance Maintenance
While most people check and change their furnace filter during fall cleaning, other appliances are overlooked. This is a great time to make sure your oven is clean and functioning properly. Have you ever winterized your air conditioner? Removing leaves and twigs and covering them will go a long way to extending their life. If you are going to break out a space heater make sure it’s working and it good repair before you need it.
- Gutters, Gutters, Gutters
We know we harp on gutters a lot! But nothing can be more destructive to your home than broken or clogged gutters. There is more to gutters than just cleaning them when they fill with leaves. While your gutters are clean, use your garden hose to run water through your gutter system to make sure there are no hidden clogs. Check for stains on the outside, which are telltale signs of holes and leakage. Most small holes can easily be repaired by the homeowner by cleaning the surface of the inside of the gutter above the problem area with a scraper or wire brush so that the bare surface is exposed and dry.
- Inspection Time
Fall is the perfect time to get your home completely inspected. Going into the winter months all sorts of things like to call your home their home. Spiders, bugs, moths, none of which you really want to cuddle with. So, it’s a great idea to pest-proof your home. Fall is also a great time to get your fireplace and chimney cleaned and inspected. House fires increase dramatically during the winter months because of the increased use of fireplaces. Don’t forget to check your dryer vents, smoke alarms, and carbon monoxide detectors.
Don’t let your fall cleaning list overwhelm you. You still have plenty of time to knock out these items, but please don’t ignore them. Get your home ready for the fall so you can enjoy the season without all the stress! And when in doubt, call a Neighborly professional to help!
