Home Maintenance Tips

Windows and Doors
Inspect all your doors and windows for tight seals, remove screens from your windows and store in the basement, or for the old schoolers, install the storm windows! (If you still have storm windows, now may be a good time to start pricing out replacement double-pane windows that are energy efficient)
 
Fall Cleanup Time!
October is a great time to seed over your lawn to ensure the grass will sprout prior to the first frost and get a jump start on spring growth. To further help these seedlings, put away the rake and leaf blower and utilize a mulching lawn mower for your leaves! Mowing the leaves into small pieces will allow the smaller bits to settle between grass blades and break down organically. Even Scotts, a company known for its lawn care products recommends this method based on research showing that it does work. Scotts does recommend using a high nitrogen-based fertilizer to help speed up the decomposition process (they do want to sell some products of course!!)
 
Winterizing Faucets
When water freezes and thaws in an outdoor faucet, it can potentially burst pipes and cause thousands of dollars of water damage. If you have frost-free faucets, you can prevent this simply by disconnecting inside the basement or other frost-protected places in your house. (Leaving a hose with a nozzle would prevent this by keeping water pressurized.) If you don’t have frost-free exterior faucets, shut off exterior supply lines (look for a lever handle within the basement ceiling or near the main water shut-off), open faucets, and, finally, drain bleed caps. To save the back and forth, consider hiring a plumber to retrofit your outdoor faucets to the frost-free type.
Also, if you have an irrigation system, have a professional blow out the lines to remove any water and potential frost damage. Drain all your garden hoses and store them for winter!