As the summer comes to a close it’s time to start thinking about prepping for the fall, and more importantly: winter. Fall brings about colder, shorter days with an increase in moisture that promotes rot and molding. These two things can be detrimental for your house especially moving into the winter months. To lessen the burden of winter here are three things to focus on during the fall: windows, holes, and basements.
#1 Windows:
Once the evening temperatures start dipping below a comfortable 50 degrees, it is time to pack away your screens. Be careful to wash and store them correctly to ensure longevity. A great tip for washing screens is to use a rotary tip head on a pressure washer, not only does it clean screens effectively but efficiently! Be sure to store screens in plastic boxes that mice and other rodents can’t get into. The fall is also a good time to throw out any old screens that no longer save you from incessant bugs.
After you remove all screens be sure to thoroughly clean out your window sills. During the summer leaves, dirt, bugs, etc. make home in the comfort of your window sills just in time for the colder, wetter months of Fall to break down the organic material, rotting the wood. Avoid thousands of dollars in repair fees and clean out your sills of any and all organic material. Bonus points if you do it multiple times per year!
#2 Holes:
Holes are an inevitable reality with houses, especially when organic material isn’t kept away from the house. It is important to patch or flash any known holes before rodents completely move in for the winter months. Luckily your heat bill will decrease if you do this as well! Do be aware that if you patch the holes during the day mice will likely be sleeping in your house so the next day you may wake up to a surprise. Don’t worry they are very friendly and it’s better to deal with them now before they have built an entire civilization in your basement.
#3 Basements:
While the days are still dry and somewhat warm, take the time to air out your basement to combat moulding. We also recommend investing in a dehumidifier to keep moisture at a minimum during the wetter months.
This is also a good time to clean out your basement of all the junk you have collected over the year. Take some time to sort through old boxes and donate those roller skates you never knew you had. As well, make sure you organize all of your things in plastic boxes to keep mice from finding a home in your favorite old t-shirts. If this is too time consuming, we recommend a cuter addition to the family: a cat.
Save yourself money and stress in the future by doing these three easy jobs now! And if you don’t want to do them, we’re sure your kids will have plenty of time over the weekend!
If you have any questions please email us at rick@rsabuilds.com or call us at (978) 341- 4790.