What Cooler Months Tend to Bring for Homeowners

Autumn is exciting for several reasons, like cooler air, shopping for coats, scarves, and increased break-in threat. Wait, one of those things was not like the others. And yet, it is one-hundred percent accurate, and the downside, obviously. This is triggered by the days becoming shorter, because of the autumn equinox, which is happening on Thursday, September 22, mark those calendars. This is the day that the sun will be exactly above the Equator. In the most basic terms, the days will be shorter or feel shorter. This will mean that you will be arriving home after the sun goes down, which also means that you’ll be leaving the house alone for more hours without the sunshine and light that deters break-ins.  But you have a few tricks up your sleeves, like timers on your lights, and you installed deadbolts on your doors. A great idea is to keep that home inventory we keep talking about handy, because it could make the difference between knowing what was taken, where it was being kept, what was kept with it, and its value, and having to search for it in old images, trying to deduce the insurers’ responsibility for said item.

Apart from break-in threats growing, you’ll also want to know how to winterize your property and the pipes preparing them for the Winter’s colder blast. Because Autumnal temperatures and weather are more agreeable than the icy Winter’s grip that could freeze your pipes. Pipes that have leaks, cracks, or fractures should be repaired prior to Winter’s beginning. The pipes that are closest to the exterior of the property should get special attention because they’re usually more exposed to the elements. In this case, the elements are the icy winds and snow. That’s basically a perfect situation for bursts, leaks, and other things that could be disastrous for your home and its structural integrity.

It could also be a great time to review your homeowner’s insurance policy. Why? Something about fall makes you feel more bookish and like getting things checked off your list is something that will make you feel both accomplished and well-studied. Anyway, it’s the best time, since it’s a transitional season, to figure out if your coverages are doing what you need them to be doing, if you’re under-covered or looking for a new coverage because you’ve recently started to hear the doors when you open them and it gives you anxiety, when deep down you know WD-40 is easily accessible, but it’s nice to know that everything even the ache-y breaky parts of your property are covered sufficiently.

Now let’s head outside because that’s enough in-door time before the weather forces us to stay inside most of the day against our will. It’s an odd thing to think about, but in the fall raking with your leaf blower could really help you to maintain your roof free of autumnal leaves. Some places will say you need to rake your roof, with a rake, but that just seems really dangerous when you can get a gardener to make sure that “fall” stays off the roof and out of the rain gutters. This will also help you confirm that there is no damage to your rain gutters or roof because being this up close and personal with your property’s exterior isn’t something that happens as commonly as you’d think.  You’ll want to ensure that there is no sagging in the gutters and that the water flows without getting stopped or falling over at any point and damaging other parts of your property.

Before we let you venture off into the Fall smells of pumpkin-spiced goodness, we’d like to remind you that you’re not the only critter wanting to curl up on your warm couch. Yes, you have to prepare for the critters, and the ones we’re talking about are the tiny ones that are looking to share your food and shelter and the warmth of your home. These are tiny little bug-like critters with a creepy crawly family that will try to move right on in with you if you’re not careful. In order to rid yourself of moths, before they come for hibernation inside, is to organize your closet, a clean closet is a bug-free closet. Also, drawers have the same effect because moths love dark and Closter phobic areas. There are also ants that you’ll want to keep outside of your walls, spiders and roaches are similar. Let’s just keep them all from hibernating inside. How to do this, much like your closet, is to make sure that you have an organized home. This will keep all of the critters outside where they belong and you peacefully inside, warm, and without hearing creepy crawly noises.

If the cooler wind starts to make your home a little uncomfortable and you are looking to get a little cozier, our team at Gables Insurance Recovery is here to help you against unfair treatment and low settlement offers by insurance carriers, by presenting our objective findings and helping you to negotiate your settlement.