Sweater weather is coming—and you need more than a PSL to get ready for it.
The Fall Season is a good time to take care of home maintenance projects.  It’s a great time of year to boost energy efficiency throughout your home, and prevent damage to the exterior of your home with some TLC for your yard. Here are 7 items to check off before the new year begins.
Clean Your Gutters and Downspouts
You’re so used to your gutters working properly — and draining thousands of gallons of water from your roof yearly — that you forget they could use a little TLC. If they’re clogged, you can end up with a flooded interior and damaged exterior. So clean them, and if necessary, replace them
Fertilize Your Lawn
If you want to keep your lawn looking great in the spring and summer, you need to prep for it in the fall and winter. Roots are still active when the grass isn’t growing, so applying fertilizer will prevent winter damage and ensure the grass is green come spring.
Prune Plants
Late fall is the best time to prune plants and trees – when the summer growth cycle is over. This will encourage healthy growth in the spring and summer seasons. Trim any trees that are close to your roof.
Add Weather Stripping
Weather stripping applied around the frames of windows and doors cuts will keep the warm air in and cold air out. This will also cut energy costs.  Who doesn’t need more money around the holidays??
Check Smoke Alarms
Typically it’s recommended to change out the batteries in our smoke alarms when we adjust our clocks for the time change. The other thing that may need to be swapped out is the smoke alarm itself. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, we should replace our actual smoke alarm every 10 years. The manufacture date can be found on the underside of the smoke alarm.
Check Outdoor Lighting
As the days get shorter in the fall, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got plenty of exterior lighting around your home.
Clean your Dryer
You should clean the vents in your dryer in the fall. Cooler, drier weather means there will be more static electricity.