Protect your home in the lead-up to the cooler weather and rain events of late Autumn and through winter.
During the lead-up to winter, there are some key issues to be aware of around your home to ensure your Plumbing, hot water and heating systems are ready to tackle the cold and wet weather ahead. While some of these tasks are specialised and required trade knowledge, some are minor handyman maintenance tasks that you can do yourself and save money on emergency call-outs.
1. Clean the gutters and downpipes around your home, garages, and pergolas.
Your gutters should be routinely cleaned all year round, but the most important time to do it is in the lead-up to winter. Increased rainfall will push built-up debris sitting in the gutters into your stormwater systems, increasing the potential for blockages to your in-ground stormwater system This includes built-up leaves and detritus. If your gutters are left to build up to the point where they block the downpipe into your stormwater system, you will run the risk of the gutter filling up and overflowing, potentially into the eaves, flooding your home.
2. Remove leaf and dirt buildup from your stormwater sumps and/ or strip grates.
If leaves and tree litter are left too long in and around your stormwater grates, they will eventually break down into detritus. While this is great for your compost bin, it will clog up your stormwater system and cause blockages.
3. Check your roof sheets and ensure flashings are in sound condition.
Depending on what type of roof you have will depend on what to look for If you have a tiled roof, take a good look over the roof for cracked tiles, missing ridge mortar, issues with flashings, and any blockages or issues with the gutters and valley gutters If the roof is Colourbond or iron, check for loose screws, issues with flashings, and the silicone seals, ensure they are in sound condition and not peeling.
4. If you have a "wet" stormwater system get them flushed before winter.
"Wet" stormwater systems are installed when a block is flat or below the road level and the system relies on rainwater to fill in the system and push out to a discharge location via gravity. New home engineers are incorporating these systems into their hydraulic designs frequently, in the growing effort to eliminate stormwater rising main via a pump. The system itself encourages the settling of debris in the stormwater system and this can build up over time to cause silting within the drainage system. It is important to ensure that the system, in the event of a downpour, allows the water to flow out to the discharge point. Having this cleaned out via either flushing the system with a Hydrojet machine is ideal.
5. Check your stormwater and rainwater pumps for correct operation, throughout the property.
You have invested in the correct infrastructure to ensure your stormwater rising main pump and rainwater pump systems will operate correctly when it needs to. This is what it is designed to do. These systems although generally forgotten about are not set-and-forget solutions. They need routine maintenance to ensure they are ready to go when needed.
6. Set your pool to no-use mode (unless you love swimming in freezing cold water) Save energy, and put the system to minimum operation to maintain chemical levels and cleanliness.
It is important to periodically test the water quality to ensure the levels are sufficient, but this minimal effort is required until the usage increases in the warmer months. If you have a solar blanket put it on as they decrease evaporation and water loss even through winter.
7. Get your gas heating systems serviced at a minimum every two years.' We love our gas heating systems, and it is extremely important to ensure they are working safely for you and your loved ones.
*Read more on this in our next article
8. Get your hot water system serviced as per the manufacturer's recommendations. Trim and clean trees and shrubs from around your hot water system.
Prolong the life of your hot water system and get it serviced to extend the serviceable lifespan well past the warranty period. Most manufacturers will have in the user guide a schedule indicating a minor, yearly service and then a major overhaul at the 5-year mark to prolong the lifespan.
9. Clean your return air grill on your reverse cycle air conditioning system.
Quite often your gas space heaters are used as supplementary heaters in living rooms and the RC AC system is used on heating mode to heat other areas of the house such as bedrooms. Now is a good time to give your return air grill filter a good clean to ensure sufficient airflow and efficient use.
10. Minimise the potential for damage from falling trees and branches.
Check your trees for loose branches and have them pruned if necessary. During heavy rain events, your tree's branches become heavier, and the potential for them to break increases. The same is for when the wind is blowing, this intensifies the potential for the branch to break off.
Although this is not a comprehensive list of what to do around your home in the lead-up to the rainy winter season, this is a list of things we see occurring within our existing customers, homes that we believe are important in minimising the impacts of water damage and premature appliance failures within your home. If you have any further questions on any of these tasks or would like us to help develop a maintenance plan for you, our team is always looking to help.
For more information, please call us on 8367 8383 or email
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