Maintain garage doors. Garage doors should slide smoothly when going up or down. You should frequently lubricate the rollers (the small wheels attached to the door’s sides) with a few drops of household oil or spray a small amount of Silicone lubrication onto their spindles. Also, ensure that the hinges are fastened securely to the door panels and tighten the screws if they are loose.

Organize the garage. The purpose of a well-functioning garage is to get everything you can off the floor. Walls, for instance, offer plenty of storage opportunities. Hooks and pegboards are perfect for storing things like garden tools. Using plastic bins or storage racks are also good ideas. Maintain storm windows and doors. Before the cold weather approaches, make minor repairs on storm doors and windows to avoid major annoyances later. For example, to remove corrosion from frames and sashes, rub them with fine steel wool. Then wipe with paste for better protection. Also, you can spray windows with silicone lubricant to keep sashes sliding smoothly.

Prepare your heating system to begin working again. It is suggested that you call a qualified professional heating technician for inspection and service because of the safety reasons and complexity of most home heating equipment. You can reach out to them through your oil or gas supplier. Also, consider a professional chimney sweep to check fireplaces and wood stoves.

Drain pipes to avoid freezing. Water freezes and expands inside pipes can cause significant damage, resulting in expensive repairs. Draining pipes before the colder weather arrives is the definite way to prevent them from freezing. First, to drain pipes that supply water to outside faucets, close off the shutoff valves on the lines providing them. Then, open the faucets letting any water in the pipes run out, and leave them open until the water supply is turned on again in the spring. By doing all that, any water remaining in the pipes can expand without creating damaging pressure. For more information on energy-saving home improvement projects, don’t forget to ask the experts at Malone Lumber & Ready-Mixed Concrete, Inc.