House Jobs You Must Not Forget This Autumn
As we enter the autumn time, there are house jobs that should be undertaken to prep a home for the new season. But what jobs must you remember this autumn? Let’s take a look!
Check Your Heating System
Upon entering autumn, it’s vital to check your heating system with the days set to get shorter and the nights set to become colder.
Of course, you should have your boiler serviced annually when it is due (in early Autumn or another time of the year). However, there are steps you can safely take DIY this autumn to check your heating system.
Here are steps you can take DIY to check your heating system:
- Turn on your heating and check that each radiator is heating up correctly and evenly.
- Check whether your heating system has been serviced within the last year, and if it has yet to and is overdue, hire a professional and secure an annual servicing plan.
- If it is too low, look at your boiler’s water pressure and top it up per the manufacturer’s instructions. *
*Usually, a boiler water pressure being too low is below 1 bar. However, you should check with the manufacturer’s instructions to see what is considered low water pressure for your boiler.
Draught-Proofing Measures
Another way to prepare your home for the autumn and winter is with draught-proofing measures. This can help keep your property warmer on cold days and offer protection against high energy bills by improving your home’s energy efficiency.
Small-scale draught-proofing measures include adding draught excluder tape to windows and external doors. Beyond that, add draught excluders to internal doors and thermal curtains.
More expensive but highly effective measures of improving your home’s energy efficiency include loft insulation, cavity wall or solid wall insulation, roof insulation, floor insulation, and double or triple-glazed windows. These types of insulation require the work of a professional.
Give Your Curtains and Blinds Deep Cleans
Along with the above autumn essentials, you should give your curtains and blinds deep cleans as we exit the summer.
The main reason for this is to enhance air quality. Doing so can lower the chance of mould or mildew forming or/and growing.
Pressure Wash Garden Paths
If you have any garden paths in your front or back gardens, you should give them a pressure wash in early autumn. Beyond that, repeating this 4-5 times a year and as needed is best.
Pressure-washing garden paths can improve the appearance of your garden(s) and make them safer. After all, garden paths needing a wash/clean can be slippery and a safety hazard.
So, cleaning them 4-5 times a year, during or before early autumn (or thereabouts), can give your garden(s) a new lease of life and prevent dangerous slips, trips, and falls.
Clear Your Gutters
Cleaning your guttering can be done DIY (once you have the right knowledge and skills and take all the necessary safety steps) or by a professional. Either way, your gutters should be cleaned twice annually. Doing so in the early Spring and early autumn is ideal.
If you intend to clean your gutters DIY, here are the steps required:
- Access the guttering with a ladder or use scaffolding if needed.
- Consider using a safety harness for extra safety.
- If using a ladder, have someone hold it from the bottom.
- Use gloves and a bucket (or a plastic bag) to remove debris from your gutters.
As for cleaning your downpipe, you’ll want to hire a professional for this job.
Have Your Chimney Swept
It’s also important to have your chimney swept annually. This is essential from a safety perspective. After all, an unswept chimney can see soot accumulate, creating a fire hazard.
You must hire a professional to have your chimney swept. This will likely cost around £50 to £80. After having your chimney swept, it’s possible to use an ash vacuum to clear the fireplace of embers. Wood ash may be recycled in a compost heap.
When cleaning a chimney in these ways (again, just as an extra cleaning job with chimney sweeping left to a professional), you can help keep it relatively clean until the next annual sweeping.
Other Jobs to Consider This Autumn
Here are some other jobs you should undertake:
- Test and (if necessary) replace the batteries of smoke detectors and carbon
- monoxide detectors *
- Give your home a clean, and consider throwing out old items you no longer
- need. Alternatively, you could recycle them or give them to charity.
- Re-decorate your home’s interior for the autumn time.
- *You should do this regularly, checking weekly smoke detectors and carbon monoxide
- detectors monthly or whenever necessary. Of course, though, early autumn is a
- good time to test both, especially
