Free Fall Home Exterior Maintenance Checklist

The 18-point checklist Go Volpe uses to help Montgomery County homeowners get their home's exterior ready for winter.

Why This Matters

Every fall, small exterior issues that were easy to fix in August turn into expensive winter repairs. A clogged gutter freezes and pulls away from the fascia. A loose shingle lets ice work its way under the roof deck. A gap around a window frame lets cold air, and higher heating bills, into the house all winter long. The problem is rarely that homeowners do not care. It is that these issues hide in plain sight until the first hard freeze forces the issue.

This free checklist walks through the six areas of your home's exterior that do the most work protecting you from a Pennsylvania winter, with 18 specific tasks you can check off before the weather turns.

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Roof & Attic

Heat escaping through a poorly insulated attic melts snow unevenly on the roof above it. That meltwater refreezes at the colder eaves and forms an ice dam, which backs water up under your shingles and into your ceiling. A fall check of attic ventilation, insulation, and shingle condition catches this before the first snow does.

Gutters & Downspouts

A gutter clogged with fall leaves cannot move water away from your roofline or your foundation. Left through the winter, that trapped water freezes, expands, and can pull gutters loose from the fascia entirely, turning a simple cleaning into a repair.

Siding & Trim

Small cracks or gaps in siding and trim let moisture in behind the surface, where it cannot dry out over the winter. That trapped moisture is what turns a cosmetic issue into rot by spring.

Windows & Doors

Worn weatherstripping and failed caulk around windows and doors are one of the most common sources of winter heat loss in older homes. A fall check is also the easiest time to catch these gaps, before you are sealing them shut against the cold.

Yard, Grading & Drainage

Where water goes when it leaves your roof matters as much as keeping it off in the first place. Grading that slopes toward the house, instead of away from it, sends melting snow and ice straight toward your foundation all winter.

Exterior Systems

‍Hose bibs, irrigation lines, and other exterior fixtures that hold water can crack when that water freezes inside them. Shutting these down properly in the fall is one of the simplest ways to avoid a spring repair.