Fall means football, vibrant foliage, pumpkins, and cooler temperatures. In addition, it means that winter isn’t too far away. Here are 6 projects that can help you prep your home for the colder weather and save you some money, too.
Install and maintain walkways.
When heading to the mailbox turns into a slip and slide, it’s time to consider a new path – literally. Your guests would also like a safe way to reach your front door.
Check your driveway and sidewalks for damage or cracks. It’s important to fill them sooner than later, before water seeps in and freezes, eventually expanding and making the cracks larger. Resurface worn concrete or lay a new walkway altogether – it will cost money now but can save you a lot of time and money in the long run.
Light the way.
Fewer daylight hours means you need more illumination. In addition, lighting adds nighttime curb appeal to your home and adds some safety, too. Exterior fixtures usually light walkways and driveways but are also great for illuminating trees and the steps to your front or back door.
Prepare your landscape and compost.
To encourage grass to come up early this coming spring, feed your grass roots now. The roots continue to grow until the ground gets down to approximately 40 degrees. In addition, it’s an ideal time to seed a lawn, start a compose pile, and trim your shrubs.
Build a trash shed.
If you don’t have room in your garage for your trash containers, it’s smart to build a shed to hide these unsightly trashcans. Nothing looks worse and kills the curb appeal of your home more than beat-up, overflowing trash and recycling bins.
Have a handyman or handywoman build a storage house that hides those bins. Flip-open lids on the top gives you access to quickly toss things in the right place, and bi-fold doors on the front make it simple to move the trash bins in and out to the curb.
Switch to freeze-proof faucets.
Exterior faucets provide some comfort to everyone – who doesn’t cringe at the mere thought of a burst water pipe. If the burst pipe isn’t spotted quickly, it can be expensive and time-consuming to clean up.
The good news is the outdoor hose faucet is easy to protect from freezing by replacing it with a freeze-proof faucet. It takes just a few hours.
Build a mudroom bench with storage.
Back-to-school is a time that makes everyone want to get more organized. Build an area just inside your homes entry where you can leave the cold weather and dirt behind. A mudroom bench is a great catchall, and it’s smart to make an area with coat hooks for jackets and backpacks, and a cubby for shoes, too.
Fall is an ideal time to tackle some home improvement and maintenance projects. There are countless ways you can prepare your home to make it more organized and cozy as this fall arrives.
Brought to you by The Association of Certified Handyman Professionals