Fall is here! It’s the perfect time to get your home ready for cooler weather, guests, cooking, and more indoor activities! We have provided home maintenance checklists for this time of year before, so this year we are going to do things a bit differently. Instead of sticking with home maintenance “to dos,” we wanted to provide a list of things to do to make your home more comfortable this fall. Here is our Fall To Do List:
Around the House
Fall is always a good time to get a few home maintenance actions done. Here is a quick overview of things “to do” before it gets too cold:
- Turn on the heater and burn off any dust. Do this early on so you can keep the windows wide open and air out the house afterwards.
- Do a visual inspection of your home, from roof to basement. Check for any cracks, missing shingles, rusted metal, fallen siding, gaps, or anything else that could allow water to penetrate. We’re having a mild fall so far, so now is a great time to get these maintenance issues sorted out.
- Schedule a gutter cleaning. When all of the leaves come down, your home will be the first on the list to get the gutter cleared out.
- Clean out your chimney. It may not be cold now, but preparing your chimney and fireplace for winter’s chill will make family gatherings much more cozy.
- Give your house a good airing. With the winter weather coming on, dust your house and let it air out well. Once the cold hits, you won’t want those windows open.
Fun To Dos 
With cooler weather, you may be able to get these fun to dos done around the house or in town:
- Bake something delicious. Bake pie, cookies, bread, or anything else you can think of. Use your oven and get excited that the weather outside is turning cooler.
- Play board games in front of a roaring fire. Use that cleaned fireplace and play board games with friends or family one chill autumn night!
- Decorate with gourds, pumpkins, and fall foliage. Make your house seasonal!
- Pull out the warm duvets. Run your heavier duvet through the dryer and then settle down to a cozy nap.
- Head off to a pumpkin patch. Don’t just buy your decorations from a grocery store, head off to a pumpkin patch and get lost in a corn maze.
- Go apple or pear picking. There are a ton of U Pick farms still open. Head on out and pick delicious fall fruit.
- Go to any or all of these Portland events.
- Head out to the woods or a park to enjoy the fall foliage.
We hope you have a wonderful fall!