Fall and winter home maintenance checklist for GTA homes

GTA winters bring freezing nights, heavy snow, freeze-and-thaw cycles and road salt. A few hours of preparation in the fall makes it far less likely that a small problem turns into a bigger one by spring. Work through the list below in October and November, before the first hard frost.

Outside, before the first frost

• Clean the eavestroughs and downspouts once most of the leaves have fallen. Blocked eavestroughs overflow, and the water can end up against your foundation or freeze into ice along the roof edge. Check that each downspout empties onto ground that slopes away from the house, and follow your municipality’s rules on where downspouts may drain.
• Shut off and drain outdoor taps. Close the shut-off valve for each outdoor tap from inside the house, then open the outdoor tap to let the water drain out. Disconnect and store garden hoses, because a hose left attached can trap water in the tap, even on frost-free models.
• Check caulking and weather-stripping around windows and doors. On a windy day, hold your hand near the edges of closed windows and doors and feel for drafts. Cracked caulking and flattened weather-stripping are worth replacing before it gets cold.
• Walk the deck and fence. Look for loose or soft boards, nails that have lifted, wobbly railings, sagging gates and fence posts that lean. Small repairs are easier before the ground freezes.
• Clear the deck of leaves and planters, which hold moisture against the boards over the winter, and store or cover patio furniture.
• Look at the ground next to the house. Soil should slope away from the foundation so meltwater runs away from it in spring.

Inside the house

• Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. In Ontario, every home must have a working smoke alarm on every storey and outside sleeping areas. Homes with a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage also need carbon monoxide alarms outside sleeping areas. Press the test button on each one, and replace batteries or whole alarms as the manufacturer recommends.
• Book furnace servicing with a licensed gas technician, and change the furnace filter as often as the furnace’s manual recommends. Never service a gas furnace, fireplace or water heater yourself.
• Find your main water shut-off valve and make sure it turns. If a pipe bursts in January, you’ll want to be able to close it quickly.
• Protect pipes in cold spots, such as an unheated garage, crawl space or an outside wall, with foam pipe insulation.
• Test the sump pump, if you have one, by slowly pouring a bucket of water into the pit and checking that the pump switches on and empties it.
• Seal small gaps where cold air gets in, such as around baseboards, the attic hatch and where pipes pass through walls.

Through the winter

• Keep vents clear of snow. Many high-efficiency furnaces and water heaters have intake and exhaust pipes on an outside wall, close to the ground. If snow covers them, the appliance can shut down, and a blocked exhaust is a carbon monoxide risk. Check them after every big snowfall, along with the dryer vent.
• Watch the roof edge for ice dams and large icicles. Don’t climb onto an icy roof or ladder; if ice keeps building up, have it looked at once it’s safe.
• Use a plastic shovel on a wooden deck, pushing along the boards rather than across them, and check the de-icer’s label before using it on wood or new concrete.
• Keep an eye on windows for heavy condensation or frost on the inside, which can point to high humidity or failing seals.

Jobs to leave to a licensed trade

Some winter jobs need a licensed professional in Ontario, such as anything involving gas lines or gas appliances (a licensed gas technician) and new plumbing lines (a licensed plumber). We don’t take these on, and you shouldn’t do them yourself.

Where we can help

If your list has turned up jobs you’d rather hand over, we can take care of eavestroughs and other outdoor work, outdoor tap and leak repairs, caulking and weather-stripping, and deck, fence and gate repairs. If you have several small jobs, see home maintenance visits.