Fall Home Maintenance Checklist PDF: 21 Ways To Refresh Your Home For Fall
In this post, I’ll go over some ways you can prepare your house for fall, and you can download a free fall home maintenance checklist PDF!
This article may contain affiliate links. When you shop the links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my small business!
How do I prepare my house for fall season?
Preparing your home for fall means to prepare it for cooler, wetter weather.
Many of the fall maintenance items include cleaning the interior and exterior of your house, as well as checking important elements like your heating system and smoke detectors to make sure everything is working properly.
Why is fall home maintenance important?
Fall home maintenance is important because it helps protect your home from the elements of autumn, including colder temperatures and potential storms.
If you can get in the habit of completing a fall maintenance checklist every year, your house will stay in good shape and you could get ahead of any potential problems before they become costly disasters.
When should I start fall cleaning?
The timeline really depends where you live.
Ideally you’ll want to begin fall cleaning before the weather turns too chilly and wet. In most places in the US, the best time to begin will be in early September.
Download the fall home maintenance checklist PDF
I’ve put together a handy free fall home maintenance PDF checklist you can print out and use while complete these tasks around your home.
How to use this fall home maintenance checklist PDF to prepare for cooler weather
Some of the To Do items on the list may not really apply to you and your home. But you’ll want to at least go through and check most of them to see what you need to do to prep for fall.
I recommend printing out the checklist and putting it on your fridge or somewhere else where you can easily see it.
Then, grab your calendar and highlight 3 weekends in early September.
Tackle each one of these categories during that weekend. For example:
- Weekend One, September 7 & 8: Inside The House tasks
- Weekend Two, September 14 & 15: Outside The House tasks
- Weekend Three, September 21 & 22: Garden & Landscaping tasks
But don’t worry – if you start later than this, you can and SHOULD still try to get these home maintenance tasks completed before fall really kicks into gear!
Inside your house
The best place to start would be inside your house. You can easily get these To Do items finished in one weekend with just a bit of planning ahead.
Take a look at this checklist and think: What can you do on this list yourself? What do you need to hire a professional for?
Change your air filter
The air filter in your HVAC system helps trap dust and allergens to keep the air inside your house clean.
I personally like to change out the air filter every season, so fall is a great time to do this.
Get your fireplace and chimney cleaned
Who knows what debris, birds or other critters might have made their way into your chimney during the spring and summer?!
Be sure to get your fireplace and chimney professionally cleaned so you know everything is all clear when it comes time to light your first autumn fire.
Schedule pest control
Pests like the warmth too, and if you aren’t proactive about creating a protective barrier you might find lots of different bugs in your home once the temperature drops outside.
Schedule a pest control service to spray around your home and deter any bugs from trying to enter. Just make sure the chemicals they use are safe for kids and pets!
Check to make sure your pipes are fully insulated
The last thing you want when the first super cold weather comes is for your pipes to freeze! Take any precautions needed to improve the insulation around your pipes before cold weather moves in.
Change the batteries on your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors
You might think a smoke or carbon monoxide detector would beep if the batteries are low – and most will – but sometimes this safety catch fails to detect dead batteries.
Stay on the safe side by replacing the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors this fall.
Reverse the direction of your ceiling fans
If you have ceiling fans, you’ll want to reverse the direction that the blades spin so that warm air can be circulated around the room in the cooler months. There should be a small switch on your fan that does this.
In the fall, the fan should spin clockwise.
Have your heating system serviced
Even if your HVAC is working perfectly, you need to have it regularly maintained by a professional so that it keeps working well to heat and cool your house.
Get a service professional out in early fall to check and service your heating system, so you won’t be left in the cold with a sudden outage.
Get your carpets cleaned
If you have carpeting anywhere your house, the fall is a perfect time to have them professionally cleaned.
Carpet traps all kinds of dusts and allergens, which then get recirculated back in the air with every step you take.
Get all of that cleaned out of your carpets in early fall so you can breathe a little easier during the winter months when you’ll be spending more time indoors with windows closed.
Outside your house
The fall refresh chores outside your house could take a bit more time and coordination, because there are some things you definitely want a professional to take care of.
And all of it depends on the weather, so some good planning is needed here as well!
Get your house soft washed
Fall is a great time to give the exterior of your house a little refresh.
Clean off dirt, pollen, spiderwebs, and any mildew with a good soft washing.
Instead of power washing your house, which involves high pressure water, a professional soft washing will still remove dirt and debris without damaging your siding.
Get windows professionally cleaned
Make your windows sparkle by getting them professionally cleaned at the beginning of fall. You’ll be surprised at how much of a difference clean windows can make when it comes to boosting curb appeal!
Clean and fix your gutters and downspouts
It’s essential that your home’s gutters are free of debris so that rain water can safely drain from the roof and away from your house. Prepare for the onslaught of falling leaves by getting your gutters and downspouts cleaned out and checked/repaired.
Re-stain and re-seal your deck
If you have a deck, it’s a good practice to go ahead and re-stain and re-seal the wood in early fall. This will keep the wood protected from the cold weather so that it doesn’t end up weathered and warped.
Bring your outdoor furniture inside or cover it up
Just because it’s outdoor furniture doesn’t mean it’s meant to stay outside unprotected from all kinds of cold, wet weather!
If you can, bring outdoor chairs and small tables inside a sheltered place like a shed or garage. For larger furniture, make sure you cover it up with a weatherproof tarp. Taking care of your outdoor furniture will help it stay in good shape for more years.
Fix cracks in your driveway and walkways
Cracks in your driveway or walkways aren’t just visually unappealing – they can also be the beginnings of a serious problem if you don’t get them fixed.
One top priority of your fall maintenance checklist should be to use a cement sealer to seal any cracks you see in your pavement.
This quick set concrete crack filler is really good at filling in cracks and drying quickly. It’s a good temporary fix for smaller cracks until you can get new concrete poured.
Garden and landscaping
These tasks may vary depending on if you do much gardening and lawn care. But generally, early fall is a great time to take a look around the front, sides and back of your property.
Assess the current condition of all the plants, trees and grass. And plan for how you’d like it all to look next spring.
Pull summer annuals out of your flower bed
Your summer annuals are probably dying out by the time you start refreshing your home for fall. Make sure to remove these from your flower bed and
Plant bulbs for spring flowers
If you like tulips or daffodils or other spring flowers, go ahead and plant the bulbs now so you can have beautiful flowers when spring arrives!
Plant new trees or shrubs
Fall is also the perfect time to plant any new trees, perennials or shrubs.
During the fall and winter, the roots of these larger plants will have time to take hold under ground before the heat of spring and summer stresses them.
Bring in potted plants
Don’t forget about your potted plants! Bring these inside once the temperature starts to drop.
Drain hoses and other water features
Make sure you prepare any outdoor water features for freezing temperatures.
Drain and disconnect your watering hoses. Drain the pool and hot tub if you have them.
And place protective covers over outdoor water faucets to help keep them from freezing.
Trim back branches hanging over the roof of the house
Go outside and look up – are there any branches hanging over your roof?
If so, now is the time to get a professional out to clear those out. The last thing you want is any branch to fall on your roof because of a fall storm or heavy ice.
Fertilize your lawn
Feed your lawn with good quality, organic fertilizer in early fall. The grass will take and hold these nutrients all fall and winter long, resulting in a healthier and vibrant lawn come spring.