10 Things Every Homeowner Should Do This Fall to Protect Their Home

A fall home maintenance checklist written for homeowners. Read it like an investor.

We spotted this one on Joe Blackshere's Facebook page and had to share it.

Joe wrote it for homeowners getting ready for winter. It works just as well for you.

Rehabbing a flip? This is your walk-through list. Roof, water, furnace, drafts. The same things your buyer's inspector will be looking for.

Holding rentals? This is your fall maintenance route. One lap around each property in October beats a no-heat call in January.

Ten items. Many of them cost a Saturday morning and a tube of caulk. Here's Joe.

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10 Things Every Homeowner Should Do This Fall to Protect Their Home

A 20-year DIY industry veteran’s checklist for getting your house ready for fall and winter

By Joe Blackshere

If you’ve owned a home for any length of time, you already know this:

Your house is constantly trying to break itself.

Okay… maybe that’s a little dramatic.

But after spending more than 20 years in the DIY and home-improvement industry, I’ve learned that the biggest problems homeowners deal with usually don’t start as big problems.

A little water gets where it shouldn’t.

A furnace filter doesn’t get changed.

A gutter gets clogged.

A tiny crack around a window lets cold air in.

A few leaves pile up in the wrong place.

And then six months later, you’re staring at a repair bill that makes you wonder why you didn’t spend $20 fixing the problem when it first showed up.

I’ve spent two decades helping homeowners find the products, tools and solutions to keep their homes running properly. I’ve also had the opportunity to be featured on multiple news channels talking about DIY projects and helping people tackle problems around their homes.

So when fall rolls around, I don’t just think about pumpkins, football and cooler temperatures.

I think about what your house needs before winter gets here.

Here are the 10 things I would put at the top of your fall home-maintenance list.

1. Get Your Furnace Ready Before You Need It

This is probably the biggest one.

Don’t wait until it’s 25 degrees outside to find out your furnace isn’t working.

Replace or clean your furnace filter, depending on the type you have, and make sure your heating system is operating properly. If your furnace or heat pump hasn’t been professionally serviced according to the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule, fall is a good time to take care of it.

And here’s the important part:

Don’t wait for the first really cold day.

That’s when HVAC companies get busy, and that’s also when you discover whether your furnace is going to cooperate.

DIY tip: Check your filter now. It’s one of the easiest maintenance items in your entire house.

2. Clean Your Gutters — and Look Where the Water Goes

Most people think cleaning gutters means getting the leaves out.

That’s only half the job.

Once the gutters are clean, look at your downspouts.

Where is the water actually going?

Downspouts should move water away from your foundation rather than dumping it directly beside the house.

Water around your foundation is one of those things that can start small and become very expensive.

Check for:

• Clogged gutters
• Loose or sagging gutters
• Leaking seams
• Downspouts that are disconnected
• Extensions that have moved
• Water pooling near the foundation

And don’t forget to look at the ground around your house. You want water moving away from the foundation, not toward it.

3. Take a Good Look at Your Roof

You don’t necessarily need to climb on your roof.

In fact, please don’t climb on your roof just because I told you to inspect it.

You can often see a lot from the ground.

Look for missing, damaged or curling shingles, damaged flashing, exposed areas around roof penetrations and anything that just doesn’t look right.

Pay particular attention around:

• Chimneys
• Plumbing vents
• Skylights
• Valleys
• Roof-to-wall transitions

Those areas are common places for water to find its way into a house.

If you see something questionable, have a qualified roofing professional take a look before winter weather arrives.

4. Walk Around Your House Looking for Water

Here’s one of my favorite homeowner maintenance tips:

Walk around your house with the sole purpose of looking for water.

Look at the exterior walls.

Look at the foundation.

Look underneath windows.

Look around doors.

Look at hose bibs.

Look around the chimney.

Look at the basement or crawlspace.

You’re looking for staining, dampness, peeling paint, soft wood, cracks or anything that suggests water has been getting somewhere it shouldn’t.

Water is patient.

It doesn’t have to make a huge entrance.

Sometimes it’s a tiny leak that quietly causes damage for months.

Finding that problem in October is a whole lot better than finding it in February.

5. Seal the Drafts You Can Feel

This is one of those projects that can be inexpensive but make a noticeable difference.

On a cool or windy day, walk around your home and pay attention to doors and windows.

Can you feel cold air?

Look at:

• Exterior doors
• Window frames
• Garage-to-house doors
• Attic access doors
• Electrical penetrations
• Plumbing penetrations
• Areas around trim

And this is where my DIY background comes in:

You don’t always need to spend thousands of dollars to make your house more comfortable.

Sometimes you need a $10 tube of caulk and an hour of your Saturday.

6. Check Your Attic Insulation and Ventilation

If you’re trying to keep your home warm this winter, don’t forget to look up.

Your attic plays a huge role in how your home performs.

Take a look at your insulation. Is it thin? Compressed? Missing in areas? Are there obvious gaps?

Also make sure your attic ventilation hasn’t been blocked by insulation or debris.

If you aren’t comfortable evaluating your attic yourself, this is a good place to bring in a professional.

And remember: more insulation isn’t automatically better if ventilation and air sealing aren’t addressed correctly.

The goal is a properly functioning system, not simply filling the attic with as much insulation as possible.

7. Protect Your Pipes Before the First Hard Freeze

If you live in an area where temperatures regularly drop below freezing, this one deserves your attention.

Check exposed plumbing in:

• Basements
• Crawlspaces
• Garages
• Exterior walls
• Unheated areas

Insulate vulnerable pipes where appropriate and know where your home’s main water shutoff is located.

Seriously. Know where that valve is.

And make sure everyone in the house knows.

If a pipe ever does break, knowing how to shut the water off quickly can make a huge difference.

Also disconnect garden hoses and properly winterize exterior faucets according to your home’s plumbing setup.

8. Test Your Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms

This is the one that doesn’t improve your home’s resale value.

It can improve something much more important.

Your family’s safety.

Test your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms.

Replace batteries if needed and replace units according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.

If you have fuel-burning appliances, fireplaces or an attached garage, make sure your carbon monoxide protection is where it should be.

Don’t wait until you’re hearing that annoying low-battery chirp at 2:00 in the morning.

Although, let’s be honest…

That’s usually when it happens.

9. Give Your Chimney and Fireplace Some Attention

If you have a fireplace or wood-burning stove and you’re planning to use it this winter, now is the time to make sure everything is ready.

Have the chimney inspected and cleaned as appropriate for your system and usage.

Check the damper.

Look for obvious signs of damage.

And make sure the fireplace is functioning properly before you light that first fire.

There’s nothing quite like sitting in front of a fire on a cold Kansas City night.

There’s also nothing quite like discovering a chimney problem after you’ve already started using it.

10. Do One Last Exterior Walk-Around

This might be my favorite fall maintenance tip because it doesn’t cost anything.

Walk around your entire property.

Don’t rush.

Look at your house like you’re seeing it for the first time.

Look at:

• Siding
• Trim
• Windows
• Doors
• Decks
• Porches
• Railings
• Exterior stairs
• Caulking
• Paint
• Foundation
• Landscaping around the house
• Trees and branches near the roof

You’re looking for small problems before they become big problems.

That loose piece of trim?

Fix it.

That missing bit of caulk?

Fix it.

That branch rubbing against the roof?

Take care of it.

That soft spot on the deck?

Don’t ignore it.

Your home doesn’t need you to perform a $20,000 renovation every fall.

It needs you to pay attention.

Your House Doesn’t Need to Be Perfect. It Needs to Be Maintained.

Here’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned from 20 years in the DIY industry:

Maintenance isn’t nearly as exciting as remodeling.

Nobody gets on Instagram and brags about replacing their furnace filter.

Nobody invites their neighbors over to admire their freshly caulked windows.

And nobody gets particularly excited about cleaning gutters.

But those are the things that help protect the home you’ve worked so hard to own.

The best home-maintenance projects are often the ones nobody notices.

Because when everything is working the way it should…

that’s the point.

So before you get too busy with football, fall festivals, Halloween and everything else this season brings, take a Saturday morning and walk around your house.

Make a list.

Fix what you can.

Call a professional when you need one.

And take care of the little things.

Because your house is probably the biggest investment you’ll ever make.

Take care of it, and it’ll take better care of you.

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About Joe Blackshere

Joe Blackshere is the TV host of The American Dream – Selling Kansas City and a Realtor who specializes in building rental portfolios and helping clients find their dream home. He brings more than 20 years in the DIY and home-improvement industry to the work.

Through Signal Home Solutions, Joe provides home solutions fueled by faith to families throughout the greater KC Metro. The company builds and grows a rental portfolio of single-family and multifamily residences using a range of investment strategies: foreclosure, owner financing, subject-to-mortgage, conventional and cash.

Signal Home Solutions also offers property management and full rehab projects, bringing vacant and outdated houses back to life to become a home, and works with its housing partners to improve their credit and reach home ownership if that is their goal.

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