Somewhere between now and Thanksgiving, most houses go through the same change. The windows close. The heat comes on and stays on. The kitchen runs flat out for a day or two at a time, and the house fills with more people than it usually holds.None of that is a problem for a house in good shape. But it is the season when small things that have been quietly wrong all year finally get tested — usually on the one afternoon you have twelve people coming for dinner.
Here is a short list worth working through in the first half of November, while it is still easy to fix anything you find.
Why Is The Holiday Season So Hard On A House?
Because it asks everything to work at once, in a house that is sealed up for the first time since spring.
The heating system is running for long stretches. Gas appliances, the fireplace and the oven are all burning at the same time. Kitchen circuits carry their heaviest loads of the year. Guest bathrooms that sit mostly idle suddenly get used all weekend. And the house is closed up, so whatever those appliances produce stays inside.
Then there is the calendar. Around the holidays, plenty of North Atlanta trades run short weeks. A problem found on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving can easily wait until the following week for a repair.
Are Your Smoke And Carbon Monoxide Alarms Ready For A Full House?
Test them now — every one, on every level — and replace any alarm that fails or that has reached the replacement date printed on it.
A few specifics:
- Press the test button on every smoke alarm and make sure you can hear it from the bedrooms with the doors shut.
- Confirm you have carbon monoxide alarms on each level and near sleeping areas if the house has any gas appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage. That describes most homes in this market.
- Check the manufacture date on the back. Alarms do not last forever, and the sensor wears out before the plastic does.
- Guest rooms count. If someone is sleeping in the bonus room over the garage or the finished basement, that space needs working alarms too.
What Should You Check Before Lighting The Fireplace?
For a wood-burning fireplace, the chimney should be swept and inspected before the first fire of the season — especially if you cannot remember the last time someone looked.
Then the simple things:
- Open the damper fully and confirm it moves freely. A damper that sticks halfway sends smoke into the room.
- Look up the flue with a flashlight for anything obvious — debris, a bird’s nest, or loose masonry.
- Keep a screen or glass doors in place, and keep rugs, stockings and greenery a safe distance from the opening.
- Put ashes in a metal container with a lid, and set it outside, well away from the house, the deck and the garage. Ashes can hold heat for days.
For gas logs and gas fireplaces, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for lighting, keep the glass clean, and have the unit serviced if the flame looks different than it used to or you smell gas. If you ever smell gas, leave the house and call the gas utility from outside.
Can Your Kitchen and Plumbing Handle Thanksgiving?
Usually — if you respect the drains and do not stack every appliance on one circuit.
- Keep grease and fat out of the drain. Let it cool, then scrape it into a container for the trash.
- Go easy on the garbage disposal. Potato peels, celery and turkey skin are hard on it. Scrape plates into the trash first.
- Spread out the countertop appliances. Roaster, slow cooker, coffee maker and stand mixer all on one outlet is how breakers trip in the middle of dinner.
- Test the GFCI outlets near the sink and in the bathrooms. Push test, then reset. If one does not trip or will not reset, have it looked at before company arrives.
- Find the shutoff valve behind each toilet and turn it once so you know it works. The day a guest bathroom overflows is not the day to discover it is stuck.
- Think about the water heater. Several showers back to back is a real test. If you already run out of hot water with the family, you will with guests.
What About Holiday Decorations?
Most decorating accidents come from the ladder and the extension cord, not the decorations.
- Check the attic ladder before you haul boxes down. Loose hinges, cracked rails and missing fasteners are common, and the attic stairs get heavy use this month.
- Use cords and lights rated for outdoor use outside, plug them into GFCI-protected outlets, and do not run cords under rugs or pinch them in doors and windows.
- Stay off a wet or frosty roof. Hang exterior lights from a ladder that is set on firm, level ground, with someone holding it.
- Water a live tree every day and keep it away from heat registers and the fireplace. A dry tree is a genuine fire hazard.
Is The Outside Of the House Ready For Guests?
Walk the path your guests will take from the driveway to the front door, after dark, and look at it the way a visitor would.
Wet leaves on steps and walkways are slick. Loose deck boards, wobbly railings and a missing handrail on the front steps are all worth fixing before an older relative has to use them at night. Replace burned-out exterior bulbs. And if you have not done it yet, disconnect the garden hoses and cover the hose bibs — Georgia freezes are usually short, but it only takes one cold night to split a line.
Call 404-478-9795 or visit https://propertymastersinspections.com/ to book online today!