Fall Checklist: A pre-winter tune-up on your home can save you money

(NC)-Fall's colours and crispness will soon be making way for winter's first exciting snowfall. However, one of the burdens of living in Canada is the extreme weather conditions our homes endure and the costs associated with it. Lighten the burden and save some money with regular maintenance and prep work this fall.

Fall Home Checklist:

Roof: If you have a sloped roof, look for shingles that are cracked, curled, loose, damaged, or missing and repair or replace them. If you have a flat roof, clean off leaves and branches, and cut back overhanging tree limbs.

Eavestroughs and Downspouts: Be sure to clean and re-secure the eavestroughs. Downspouts should discharge at least 6 feet away from the nearest wall. Keeping this system flowing freely is the key to controlling rain and melting snow. Clogged eavestroughs and downspouts can lead to damaged and soaked exterior surfaces, which can lead to a leaky basement.

Grading: Take a walk around the house to check how the ground directs traffic. Any and all surfaces next to the walls should be sloped to shed water away from the house. This is most important on warm winter days, as melting snow runs quickly across the surface of frozen ground. If the grading is incorrect, water will potentially flow into the house, causing basement leakage. Now is the time to use a shovel to re-slope the grass, or call a paving contractor to correct a negatively sloped walkway or driveway.

Turn Off Outside Taps: Unless they are frost-proof, drain and turn off taps and external pipes to prevent bursting due to freezing.

Weather-stripping: If you live in a new house, odds are that your windows and doors are well sealed. Old windows and doors may need sealing to keep heat in and cold out. Weather-stripping is easily the most cost-effective way to reduce heating and cooling costs. It is important to inspect it periodically as it may deteriorate over time.

Furnace: The most important pre-winter activity is scheduling a heating system maintenance call, even for new systems. The technician will clean the burners and fan, lubricate the moving parts, change the filter and check the operation of the important safety mechanisms. If you have a humidifier, you should clean it as well at this time.

Manage My Home is an online service made available to you by Sears HomeCentral, in association with Carson, Dunlop and Associates, leading consulting engineering company in the home inspection field. Manage-My-Home makes day-to-day home maintenance easier because it gives you a fast, convenient and easy-to-use on-line service, consisting of an annual maintenance program and a homeowner's manual customized to the unique features of your home.

For more information or to register, logon to www.managemyhome.com/sears . Sears HomeCentral has been a trusted and reliable source for a wide variety of home improvements products and services for more than 45 years, backed by Sears "satisfaction guarantee."

Sears HomeCentral offers appliance repair on all brands, renovations, duct cleaning, furnace sales and repairs, roofing, flooring including customer broadloom, customer draping/blinds, upholstery, cleaning and more. For a complete list of all home repair and improvement services offered by Sears HomeCentral, please log on to www.sears.ca click on home repair and improvement services offered by Sears HomeCentral, call 1-800-4-MY-HOME available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or visit your local Sears store.