The Fall Home Maintenance Checklist Every Greater Boston Homeowner Should Finish Before the First Freeze

Most of the water damage we repair in January was preventable in October. Here is the short list of things to do this month that keep water out of your house once the temperature drops.

1. Clean the gutters and check the downspouts

Clogged gutters are the number one cause of ice dams in Boston. Leaves pack in, water backs up, the first cold snap freezes it, and the dam starts at the gutter line. Clean them after the last leaves drop, usually early November, and make sure every downspout discharges at least four feet from the foundation. A downspout dumping at the base of the house is a wet basement waiting to happen.

2. Walk the exterior and look up

Look for lifted shingles, cracked flashing around the chimney, gaps where siding meets trim, and caulk that has pulled away from window frames. Every one of those is a path for wind-driven rain and meltwater. A tube of exterior caulk now is cheaper than a wall opened up in February.

3. Check the grading

Soil settles. If the ground within six feet of your foundation slopes toward the house instead of away from it, every rainstorm pushes water at your basement wall. Add soil to get a slope of about one inch per foot away from the house.

4. Shut off and drain outdoor faucets

Close the interior shutoff for each hose bib, open the outdoor spigot, and let it drain. Disconnect hoses. A frozen hose bib splits the pipe inside the wall, and you find out in April when the wall is soaked.

5. Test the sump pump

Pour a bucket of water into the pit and watch it run. If it hesitates, grinds, or does not shut off, replace it now. Sump pumps fail during the storm, never before it. If you do not have a battery backup, this is the year to add one; Boston loses power in exactly the storms that flood basements.

6. Look at the attic

Check that bath fans vent outside, not into the attic. Look for daylight, damp insulation, or dark staining on the underside of the roof deck. Those are the early signs of the ventilation and air-sealing problems that cause ice dams.

7. Know where the main shutoff is

Find it, tag it, and make sure everyone in the house can turn it. When a pipe bursts, the difference between a wet floor and a flooded first floor is how fast someone gets to that valve.

If you find something

A soft spot in the roof decking, staining in the attic, a crack in the foundation that is new since spring: those are worth a free assessment before winter, not after. Call us and we will tell you whether it can wait.