If you are responsible for yard maintenance, you'll likely be completing your final lawn mowing sometime in October or November.  Be sure to rake all your leaves that collect in the yard, leaves should not be left on lawns as they generate fungus and disease.  This is also the perfect time to fertilize your lawn and put grass on any bare spots.

 If you have a lot of trees and if leaves or other debris are clogging your gutters, please give our office a call to schedule a gutter cleaning at your owners expense.  During a heavy rain if you notice water cascading over the gutters that may be a sign that your gutters are clogged and require a clean out. 

If we experience a heavy, wet snowfall, go out and shake off branches of trees and shrubs that you can reach from the ground so they don't split or break off.  A broom, large stick, or any tool with a large handle will be useful to shake taller branches.   

City ordinances require that walks be shoveled within 24 hours of any snowfall.  Unless you live in a complex where the homeowners association handles snow removal, be prepared to shovel because Code Enforcement routinely patrols for violations.

 Photo courtesy of Dreamstime

Turn off outdoor faucets and disconnect hoses.  Failure to do so will cause the spigot to freeze, when it thaws, plumbing somewhere within the house will leak or burst.  Anytime the temperature is expected to reach freezing, make sure nothing is connected to your outside faucets.

Fireplaces and wood burning stoves are great on cool afternoons and nights, please make sure you observe all wood burning ban days as noted on the news. Before starting a fire, be sure the flue is open and you don't have an overabundance of ash in the fireplace or wood burning stove.  You can clean out your fireplace however often you want, but never sooner than one week after a fire to insure embers are cold.  Never empty ashes into your trash can, always dispose of them outdoors away from anything combustible.  Never burn anything other than logs and kindling, and be sure to only use matches and paper to start your fire. If your chimney has not been cleaned during your tenancy and you frequently use your fireplace or wood burning stove, please call us to have this service completed.

Please check your smoke detectors and CO2 detectors.  Usually detectors will emit a constant, but rather soft sounding beep when the battery is running low but there is also a test button which can be depressed.  If it doesn't sound, replace the dead battery immediately.

KITCHEN SINKS & GARBAGE DISPOSALS

NEVER put the following items down the kitchen drain:  grease, coffee grounds, , potato or carrot peelings, pasta, rice, or any other food item that may cause a blockage.

SWAMP COOLERS & FURNACE

If you have a swamp cooler, now is the time to have it winterized.  Please call our office to have this service done at your owner's expense.

Now is also the time to check your furnace if you've not already done so.  If you have gas heat, lighting the pilot light is considered routine maintenance.  If after lighting the pilot, it will not stay lit, call us and we'll arrange for service.  If you have not had your furnace cleaned and tuned during your tenancy, please give us a call so we can schedule that for you at your owner's expense.  Furnace filters should be routinely changed every 3 months.  Most problems associated with a/c units and gas forced air units are a clogged filter.  Please check your furnace filter first before you call.

If your heat goes out in the middle of the night, call us in the morning.  We cannot get heating contractors out in the middle of the night.

Never turn heat off or set thermostats below 60 degrees, especially if you won't be home for a few days.

If you lose power or heat, open cabinet doors to expose plumbing pipes to warmer air.  Open faucets to a very slow drip.  Please call us if you experience frozen pipes.  We'll talk you through how to thaw them slowly and determine if we need to send out maintenance.  Usually the only time pipes freeze in Colorado is when it is below 0 degrees and if you have a bathroom over unheated space such as a garage.