August 13th, 2021 by Sarah Miles

Just as spring can be a good time for a good deep clean, autumn is a great time for dealing with a number of DIY jobs. Whether it’s preparing for winter or just tackling the tasks you’ve been too busy to do over the summer while you’ve been making the most of the sunny weather, now is the time to make a to-do list and crack on!

Attend to minor repairs

You know, the ones you’ve been ignoring all summer: the dripping tap, the running toilet, the cracked tile in the kitchen, the shelf that’s looking a bit wonky etc. It’s time to get your tool bag out and get them all boxed off. Just put a day aside and get them all done and you’ll feel so much better. If you don’t feel confident doing them yourself, why not get a handyman in to do them all so you don’t have to worry about them.

Painting and decorating

Autumn represents the perfect window for getting on with decorating projects between the summer, where you’ve been busy with family stuff, or holidays, or just enjoying the weather, and the winter, where daylight is in short supply and it’s hard to motivate yourself to start painting on a dark evening after work. The temperature is cooler but there’s still plenty of daylight plus you can get big projects done in plenty of time for Christmas.

Pre-winter plumbing checks

We all know that winter is the most testing season for our plumbing and heating systems. The cold weather can cause pipes to freeze, boilers to break down, and drains to block. However, many of these problems can be avoided with a few preventative measures in early autumn. Do the following to prepare everything for the coming season:

• Get the boiler serviced
• Lag the boiler condensate pipe
• Lag other external pipes
• Check drains and gutters for damage
• Bleed the radiators

Fix up garden furniture

Your garden furniture has seen you through barbecues, parties, chill time, and maybe even home working all summer and now it’s time to repay it. However well-made your garden furniture is, it won’t thank you for being left out in the elements all winter so, ideally, it needs storing away. Before you do this, you need to give it a little TLC. Check for signs of damage and repair it where you can. For example, any chips in the paint or sealant on metal furniture could allow rust to set in. Give it a good wash down, including any soft furnishings, and disassemble anything you need to for storage. You will thank yourself when you get it out next year.

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Give the garden a clear up

Once the garden furniture has been put away, you can give the garden a last clean up before the winter. Wash and treat decking and hard surfaces, as moss and lichen can become very slippery combined with rain and freezing conditions later. Check your fencing for damage or gaps and repair and cut back/prune appropriate plants before we start to get frosts. Give the grass a final cut and consider scarifying and/or applying iron sulphate to give it some strength over the winter.