Seasonal Checklist: Winterizing Your Home

Seasonal maintenance can often slip our minds. One minute it’s the height of summer and your top priority is to keep cool and hydrated, and the next minute the leaves outside your window have changed colors and you find that the air is much, much cooler.

For homeowners and renters, keeping seasonal changes top of mind is a step towards preventative maintenance. As fall sets in, we’ve put together a quick checklist to help you prepare for the incoming winter months.

Protect your pipes.

Water expands when it freezes in the wintertime and can do some serious damage to your home. Turn off outside hose spigots and open up a faucet indoors to let the water trickle through. Letting a thin stream of water trickle from your faucet prevents it from freezing in your pipes.

Remember to shut all your windows.

Have an attic or overhead storage space? It’s entirely possible that you opened up a window in the summer to let heat escape and just forgot to close it months after.

Take some time to go through these spaces and check for any drafts. Trust us: your furnace will thank you when the cooler months roll in.

Found that all your windows closed but there are still cold spots in your home? Reach out to our Maintenance Team and we’ll come over to put some weather stripping in.

Clean your furnace filter.

Dust builds up in furnace filters and prevents fresh air from passing through. This may indirectly cause short cycling issues and cause your furnace to malfunction when you need it the most.

If your furnace utilizes disposable filters, it’s best practice to replace these every 2-3 months. For furnaces with permanent filters, it’s often just a matter of checking and cleaning these out regularly.

If you’re unsure of how to go about doing that, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Director of Resident Services in your area and they’ll point you in the right direction.

Clear your yard.

Is your home surrounded by trees? Trim those branches, especially if they’re close to any windows and high-traffic areas such as doors and the garage. Frost and snow can weigh these down, make them fall and potentially cause damage.

Mind your gutters and downspouts.

Since you’re already outside, make sure to clear out leaves and other kinds of debris that could potentially clog drainage. You can also opt to install leaf guards to prevent any additional build up before it starts to snow.

Keep some ice melt and a shovel handy—the closer to your front door, the better.

Keep your driveways and sidewalks clear of ice and snow, and check your steps and handrails for any issues. Snow may look pretty from indoors, but it’s a different story altogether when you have to hunt that shovel down from your garage just so you can get to your car.

Finally: stay warm, cozy, and safe.

Stock up on canned food, drape a favorite blanket over the back of your couch, and keep your feet warm with a pair of fuzzy socks. After all, cooler weather is also a great opportunity to slow down, relax, and enjoy the comforts of home.

Experience all of the benefits and advantages of homeownership—in a rental.

Our residents deserve to feel truly at home. Beyond fully-renovated homes, our locations are also second to none. We make it so easy, all you have to do is come home.

Talk to our team—we’d love to know how we can help.

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