Fall Home Maintenance Checklist for Northeastern Pennsylvania

Home Maintenance · Northeastern Pennsylvania · Fall 2026

It’s fall, y’all. The leaves are coming down, the furnace is about to start working hard, and a NEPA winter is a few weeks away. An afternoon or two of fall maintenance now prevents the calls nobody wants to make in January: a burst pipe, a flooded basement or a furnace that quits on the coldest night of the year.

We build homes in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne and Susquehanna counties, and the same handful of fall tasks come up every year. Here they are in the order we would do them.

When to Do It

In Northeastern Pennsylvania, hard freezes usually arrive in late October or early November. Anything involving outdoor water should be done before then. Gutters are the exception: clean them after most of the leaves have fallen, which is often mid-to-late November, and do a quick early pass if you have big trees close to the house.

Outside: Keep Water Moving Away From the House

Gutters and downspouts

Clogged gutters overflow against the fascia and siding and dump water right at the foundation. In winter they hold ice and help create ice dams. Scoop out leaves and debris, flush each run with a hose and make sure every downspout runs clear. Downspouts should discharge at least four to six feet from the foundation, onto ground that slopes away from the house.

Our full guide covers this in detail: Leaves, Gutters and Ice Dams.

Hose bibs and garden hoses

Disconnect every garden hose from its outdoor spigot, drain it and store it. This applies to frost-free spigots too. A hose left attached traps water in the valve, which can freeze and split the pipe inside your wall. You often don’t find out until spring, when you turn it on and water runs into the basement ceiling.

If your spigots have an indoor shutoff valve, close it, then open the outdoor spigot to let it drain. Shut off and blow out any irrigation system. The details are in How to Winterize Hose Bibs and Prevent Frozen Pipes.

Grading and foundation

Walk the perimeter. Soil should slope away from the foundation. Fill low spots where water pools against the house, and pull mulch and soil back so they don’t sit against siding. Seal visible cracks in the foundation, walkways and driveway before water gets in and freezes.

Roof, trees and exterior seal

• Look at the roof from the ground with binoculars. Missing or lifted shingles, damaged flashing around the chimney and vents, and loose drip edge are all easier to fix now than after a snow load.
• Trim branches that overhang the roof or touch the house. Ice-loaded limbs break, and branches give squirrels and mice a path in.
• Re-caulk gaps around windows, doors and where pipes, wires and vents pass through the siding.
• Check weatherstripping on exterior doors and the garage door. If you can see daylight around a closed door, you are heating the outdoors.

Inside: Heat, Air and Water

Service the furnace or boiler

Book an annual tune-up with a licensed HVAC technician before the first cold snap. A technician will clean and inspect the burners, check the heat exchanger for cracks, test safety controls and measure combustion. That last point matters: a cracked heat exchanger or poor draft can put carbon monoxide into the house. Heat pumps need an annual check too.

• Change the furnace filter now and then every one to three months through the heating season, depending on the filter and whether you have pets.
• Clear the area around the furnace, water heater and any return vents. No storage boxes, paint cans or laundry piled against them.
• Oil or propane heat? Check your tank level and get on a delivery schedule before demand peaks.
• Run the heat once on a mild day. The first-run burning smell should fade within an hour. If it doesn’t, call your technician.

Chimney, fireplace and wood stove

Have the chimney inspected once a year and swept when needed, especially if you burn wood. Creosote buildup causes chimney fires. Check that the damper opens and closes fully, and that the chimney cap is in place to keep out animals and rain.

Sump pump

Fall rain and spring snowmelt are when a sump pump earns its keep. Pour a bucket of water into the pit and confirm the pump turns on, empties the pit and shuts off. Make sure the discharge line outside is clear and runs away from the house. If you have a battery backup, check the battery. More in The Fall Sump Pump and Basement Check.

Dryer vent

Clean the lint out of the dryer duct and the outside vent hood, not just the lint screen. A clogged dryer vent is a fire risk and makes every load take longer.

Ceiling fans

Switch ceiling fans to turn clockwise at low speed. That pushes warm air down from the ceiling without creating a draft.

Safety: Test Every Alarm

Get Ready for Snow

• Start the snow blower before you need it. Change the oil, check the shear pins and use fresh, stabilized fuel.
• Add stabilizer to the lawn mower fuel, or run it dry, before putting it away.
• Stock ice melt. Calcium chloride and magnesium chloride are easier on concrete than rock salt. Avoid salting concrete poured within the last year.
• Mark the driveway edges with stakes so the plow doesn’t chew up your lawn and landscaping.
• Store patio furniture and cushions, and cover the grill.

Your Fall Checklist at a Glance

Building New? Design Out the Chores

A lot of fall maintenance exists because of decisions made when a house was built. In a new custom home, it costs very little to get them right from the start: frost-free spigots with accessible indoor shutoffs, a sump pit with a battery backup and a discharge that runs well clear of the house, correct grading, gutters sized for the roof, and alarms that are hard-wired and interconnected so one sounding sets off all of them. That’s how we build, and it means a shorter list every October.