Household DIY Jobs to Get Done Before Christmas

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Right now is the time to be getting things done ready in the lead up to Christmas. It’s a good time for football, for hot apple cider, and for preparing your home for the cold weather.

Being able to get in control of your house now means that when the cold weather does decide to set in, you won’t be sitting there freezing in your home, but you’ll feel comfortable and ready for the season.

The ground may not be covered in snow just yet, which means that you need to take advantage of autumn to make sure that you complete your round the house projects.

Doing this will ensure that you feel confident and comfortable as the season draws in, whether you are taking your oscillating saw to the garden to cut back your trees to clear your gutters or you are getting your nail gun ready to put some.

In the hope of avoiding any damage from strong wind, there’s a lot for you to get done. Let’s take a look at the tasks that you can get done before Christmas so that you don’t have to spend a lot of time or money in the long run.

Sort your gutters out. You don’t just have to clean your gutters or cut back the overhanging trees. With the oscillating saw that we mentioned earlier, you could upgrade your gutters completely.

You know that you need to clean all the leaves and other debris out of your gutters so that your water will correctly flow to the downspout.

You don’t want it to spill over or freeze or turn your sidewalk into an ice rink. Overflowing gutters can also result in any water being built up and running backward towards the house, and that can leak into the basement, which can cause some structural integrity issues with your property.

Taking that extra step to channel the water away from the house is important.

Look after your outdoor equipment. Your lawn mower, your drill, anything that you have in terms of power tools needs to be looked after and that means making sure that the snow thrower can start and the tyres are inflated.

If everything is in working order, you’ll be able to store it away properly before it can be a problem. You don’t want to have several inches of snow piling up on the driveway.

You also don’t want to get your power tools out and find that they have rusted because you didn’t change the oil.

Checking the oil level to make sure that it’s good to go and performing any basic maintenance tasks on your outdoor tools is a good thing to do before you put them away for the season.

Feed the Lawn Properly

You might be daydreaming about apple cider and pumpkin pie, but we’re not just talking about feeding you here.

You need to feed the lawn, and while the grass may not be growing, the roots will still be active and the lawn still needs to be fed. Fertilizing in the fall promotes healthy root growth before the grass does go dormant for the winter.

This means when the spring buds do start roaming in, you’re going to have.That is growing lushly and properly and evenly. You want your grass to be resistant to disease and drought, and that’s what you can start with.

Fix the cracks

If your driveway or your asphalt outside has cracks roaming through it, it’s time to fix it now. Freezing water will expand and burst plumbing lines, and the water that gets into the cracks in your sidewalk or your driveway can expand and freeze, which forces the crack to open wider.

Over the course of the winter months, that can get worse, but if you fix it now, you’re not going to have that problem. To fix a crack, you have to use a wire brush to clean it out first, and then you can start filling it and sanding over it.

You need to make sure that you do this when the weather is dry so that everything can set properly before the winter months.

Make sure that you seal it properly with something water resistant so that water droplets don’t get in and expand it further.

Drain Water Lines Outside

Drain your outside water lines. Your pipes will freeze in the winter months, especially if you are living somewhere that dumps below freezing.

Turning off the water lines inside the house and using the shuttle valves in the main plumbing line will help you to ensure that you are able to keep your pipes from freezing and breaking.

If there is no water running through your faucets, you’re going to be able to relax and not panic about the water expanding and cracking the metal. That’s going to be an even bigger job if you don’t get this done now.

Fix the HVAC

If you had your HVAC checked at the start of the spring months, then it’s time to do it again. You need to make sure that it’s clean and ready to pump out some decent heat for you and your family this winter.

The furnace that you have should have a filter and that needs to be changed every month to maximize your heating systems efficiency.

This is the case if you don’t have ducted heating with AC through the home. You also want to make sure that there are no pests and no issues along the filters because clean filters equal clean air.

Clean Your Furniture

Clean the outdoor furniture. Before you start storing your outdoor furniture away for the winter, it needs to be clean.

Decking should be pressure washed, and furniture itself should be swept down and cleaned thoroughly. Just because the table and the chairs on your patio are there for outdoor use, it doesn’t mean you should leave them outside all winter, especially if you live somewhere that gets very stormy and windy.

Using dishwashing liquid in warm water and a clean sponge, you can clean the furniture and rinse it clean with a hose and nozzle. Leave it there to dry and then you can get it stored away for the winter months.