While it may not feel like autumn where your community is located, you’ll want to be prepared when the cooler fall season quickly rolls around. Streamlining tasks is an important way to stay on top of all the varied roles a community manager has to juggle, and this means preparing your seasonal maintenance well in advance. Even if the calendar still says summer, now is the perfect time to begin preparing your maintenance team for fall.

Late Summer And Early Fall

The tasks your maintenance team is taking care of in November will be quite different from what they’re doing in September. A few tasks that should be a part of your late summer and early fall maintenance list are:

  • Patch holes in your residences – As the weather begins to cool, critters like mice and squirrels will be looking for warm spaces where they can seek refuge. Some animals, like bats, can fit into holes as small as a dime. Before the weather starts to change, now is the time to run inspections in and around residences to take care of any small holes that may be present and attractive to unwanted pests.
  • Inspect insulation and weather stripping – No resident wants to find they have a draft “the hard way”, and the way to avoid this is to maintain insulation and weather stripping before the air begins to cool. Weather stripping can crack or shrink, leaving it less than optimally functional in a period of about 5 years. The lifespan of insulation depends largely on the type of insulation used within residences. Yearly maintenance checks at the end of summer will ensure breakdown will never become a problem.

Mid And Late Fall

Once you’re in the thick of the fall season, new maintenance needs will arise. A few items that should be on your regular fall maintenance checklist are:

  • Cleaning gutters and raking leaves – If you have trees around your community, you’ll also have needles or leaves. As these fall, you may be left with clogged gutters, slippery walkways, and weighed down roofing. Throughout the fall season, it’s important to have your maintenance team regularly clean gutters and rake leaves to avoid slipping or flood hazards.
  • Trimming branches – As the weather cools and the winds pick up, bare branches become a potential hazard around your community. Keeping branches trimmed will ensure they won’t fall and become a danger to your residents.
  • Drain exterior faucets – Burst water pipes become a big hazard as the weather really drops during late fall. Before the first freeze, it’s a safe idea to have your maintenance team turn off valves to outside faucets, allow the water to drain, and insulate for the late fall into winter seasons.

Maintenance is a crucial part of maintaining happy residents and better resident retention. To learn more about creating a maintenance checklist for fall for your community, contact us at OccupancySolutions.com today.