With the cooler months starting to roll in, it can be easy to start to let simple house maintenance and pest inspections slide a little bit. After all, we see a lot less activity in general from pests during winter. Just because you can no longer see them though, does not mean that they are not as dangerous in winter as they are in summer. In fact, when it comes to hidden pests like termites, winter is a great time for them – especially if your home is heated. Just like the insects are less active, so are we. This, in addition to lower temperatures, means that we don’t open up our house as often as we do in summer – meaning that insects are less disturbed during the winter months.
It is therefore extremely important to inspect home this autumn for termites unless you want them to be able to breed unopposed throughout winter. The sooner you catch termite damage, the better in terms of damage done and cost of repairs. There is a limit to what repairs you can actually do once a full-blown termites infestation is in full swing.
The next thing to check would be that all your windows and doors are properly insulated. It is also a good idea to check on the insulation in the roof to make sure that there are no gaps at all. Check any heating pipes, etc. for leaks or holes. By doing this, you will make sure that your home is as energy efficient as it can possibly be.
Depending on how cold it gets where you stay, you could also look into winterizing your pipes. This may not be necessary where you stay but you should, at the very least, consider getting your geyser insulated. This is another way to save quite a bit of energy. Not only will you be saving yourself some money, you will also be helping to save the planet.
You will also need to take a trip around the garden – check the trees around the house or its out-buildings for deadwood and get rid of any that you may find. Make a general tidy up of your garden. The dryness of winter can often exacerbate problems with trees falling and, if there is a lot of dry debris around, there is an increased risk of fire around your home.
Basically, you need to do an autumn clean just as much as you do a spring clean to keep your house in tip top shape.
