Fall Home DIY Projects on a Budget
Kevin Kelley
The chill in the air is trying to tell us that the seasons are changing; autumn is right around the corner. Fall is the season for football, enjoying pumpkin spice-flavored everything, and enjoying nature’s beauty as the leaves change. While beautiful, fall is also the perfect time for rolling up our sleeves and tackling those some home improvement projects before it gets too cold.
We know that COVID has had some unique impacts on communities across the country, and saving extra money wherever we can makes a big difference. We have compiled a list of budget friendly projects to get your home ready for fall and winter.
#1. Improve your home’s curb appeal by adding a new coat of paint to your front door. You can read a great DIY step by step guide to painting your front door from HGTV here: How to Paint a Front Door . You can purchase a great color from Valspar Door and Trim paint at Lowe’s for $24.98! What a great and easy way to decorate your home for fall.
#2: Exterior wood repair. Autumn tends to be a good time for repairing your siding, porches or window casings. This home improvement project doesn’t pack the visual punch of a new door color, but it can easily save you thousands of dollars in other damages in coming years by preventing sags and breaks. This is a great DIY seasonal repair before the rain and snow of winter comes. Grainger offers a great rotted wood repair kit for $26!
#3. Caulk or re-caulk your windows and doors. Caulking in the fall as part of your winter preparations can protect your home from long-term, internal damage. While caulking isn’t an activity most homeowners look forward to, it can help seal gaps where water and snow can seep in. Caulking should be deliberate and done within certain temperature ranges. A good caulk job is inexpensive, easy to do, and provides valuable results! We recommend checking out the large variety of outdoor caulk and sealants at Home Depot to find what is going to work best for your home.
#4. Clean, repair, and protect gutters. Make sure your gutters don’t get overloaded with leaves this fall! Your home's gutters divert thousands of gallons of water each year. To keep the water flowing smoothly away from your house instead of into it, inspect and clean your roof's drainage system. Check out this 9 piece gutter cleaning toolkit found at Sim Supply for just $47.99!
#5: Prepare your fireplace and wood stove for fall and winter. At MagVent, we are very concerned with fire safety and how to make our customers’ homes safer. Just like dryer vent fires, home and chimney fires are a very real concern every winter and it’s important to be mindful when heating with wood. We love this wood stove cleaning kit from Fireplace Doors and More that starts around $115.
#6: Winterize your outdoor faucets. Most exterior plumbing in areas with temperatures below freezing must be winterized to prevent freezing and bursting. Without proper preparation, your home could be damaged by frozen pipes and require expensive repairs. We highly recommend these faucet covers that can be found at Lowe’s for the amazing low price of $2.28!
#7: Spread mulch to protect perennials and annuals. If you have perennials or cool weather annuals, laying down a good, thick layer of mulch is highly advisable if you want them to stay healthy in the fall and survive the winter. Organic mulches, such as pine needles, sawdust, straw, grass clippings and fallen leaves are good for introducing nutrients into the soil. For a great mulch that is also eco-friendly, check out this recycled rubber mulch from Plow and Hearth for just $29.95!
#8: Add a programmable thermostat for fall and winter savings. If you're feeling the chill from newly cold weather and have been tempted to crank up the heat, it might be time for a refresher on the best way to set your thermostat for money and energy savings. By allowing you to "set it and forget it," a programmable thermostat allows you to set temperatures based on the times you are normally home and your habits, and then you almost never have to bother with it. These programmable thermostats can get pretty pricey, but we found a great and sleek looking design in this model by Avelora that is pictured above for just $64.95!
#9: Test your smoke alarms then replace the unit or batteries if needed. Electronic devices are not infallible. Batteries die, and other parts of the smoke detector can wear out over time. Testing them regularly and replacing batteries (or the entire device) is one way to help ensure your family stays safe should there be a fire in your home. You can get a 4 pack of Kidde FireX long lasting smoke detectors at Home Depot for as little as $61!
And last but not least, #10: Install a MagVent and upgrade your dryer vent path today! It is a good idea to make sure your dryer vent is always clean and working properly. A MagVent product, a properly designed duct system, and routine cleaning are the solutions to decrease fire hazards, boost dryer efficiency, and save energy and space! This makes it a great DIY project for any season.
MagVent's dryer vent products have been created with four guiding objectives:
1. Customer satisfaction: Our number one goal is customer satisfaction. Whether the customer installs a MagVent dryer vent themselves or leaves it to the professional, they can rest assured that their purchase will reward them with increased dryer efficiency and safety with every load washed. Great customer service as essential to customer satisfaction. So whether you are a home owner or a seasoned installer, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We've seen many tricky installations and can help guide you through yours. With MagVent behind you and your dryer, you’ll know you have done your installation right! And you can have confidence that your home is safer and more efficient.
2. Fire Safety: Dryer fire safety is a serious and often overlooked problem. It is our goal to both increase consumer awareness about the dangers of dryer fires, and to provide the solution, which is a minimum path vent and routine maintenance. MagVent makes maintenance a snap!
3. The 3 E’s: Economy, Energy Efficiency, and the Environment. The 3 E’s are listed in the same point because they are inseparable. MagVent’s ability to provide a convenient minimum path duct, that resists crushing and obstruction, allows the dryer to run at optimum efficiency and save energy. This saves the client money and helps conserve our energy resources, which is good for the environment. MagVent, 3 big wins!
4. The professional installer, dryer vent service professional, general contractor and architect: MagVent is truly born out of the need for tradesmen and professionals to deliver their clients a better vent solution than the traditional mess of flexible transition duct. The professional has been considered during every phase of the design process. MagVent has endeavored to simplify the uncertainty in dryer installations by providing a solution that both you and your client can feel good about. MagVent: Easy, solid installs that boost dryer efficiency and safety!
As always, MagVent representatives are available Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm EST to answer all of your DIY questions about our products and installations. We are also happy to assist vendors, dryer vent cleaners, and other professionals who are interested in becoming a certified MagVent installer. As a small business, we sincerely appreciate all of our customers for their continued support and kind words.