As we transition from summer to fall, in some places more quickly than others, of course we might be thinking about back-to-school gifts for teachers or even stocking up on seasonal foods to replenish the pantry, or even about when to take out the cool weather clothing. And then your thoughts might naturally lead you to thinking about winter and holiday celebrations that might just mean hosting family and friends, and at the least spending many more hours at home! While many folks do have standard home maintenance tasks that go with the end of every season, such as putting away summer furniture, possibly draining a pool, thinking about which plants to move indoors, etc. fall also happens to be the perfect time to tackle some DIY home maintemance projects. Fall is much cooler, so work done outdoors at the end of a workday or on the weekends will be so much more comfortable, and of course before setting the clocks back we still have more daylight in the evening which is also helpful. Lets take a look at some important DIY projects that you can tackle right now, and then when your thoughts drift to the holidays, you know your home will be in top shape and looking great!
Strip and Repaint/Refinish Your Banisters
As you go up or down the stairways in your home each day, you probably touch the banisters. The banisters naturally soak up oils from your hands as you make contact with them. As time passes, the paint on those banisters can wear away, or the wood finish can be cracked and discolored in certain places, giving a worn look to your staircase. Stripping your painted banisters and repainting them might seem like a job for the professionals, and yet with some time and patience it is something that the novice can do successfully.
First you'll need to detach the banisters, which you can likely do with little difficulty in most instances. You just need a screwdriver and possibly an additional person to hold the banister steady while you remove it.
Then take the banisters outside and use a paint stripper (wear a mask please to filter the toxins!) to strip away any excess paint. You can let the banisters sit overnight outdoors if you put some primer on them. The following day, you can repaint them. Consider renting a professional paint spray gun to get an even coat. Also consider doing something a little different with the color for a fresh look. Once dry, you can reattach the banisters in your staircase and enjoy! When those guests visit, they’ll see banisters with fresh, vibrant paint that will look truly amazing, especially since in many homes the banister is in the front hall.
Repaint Or Refinish Your Deck
Many homeowners smartly wait untill the summer’s end to repaint their decks and porches. You do not want to do it in midsummer since painting in the hot weather isn’t exactly a fun activity. Usually, you'll need to repaint a deck every two years or so. You can see the paint wear away from individuals walking back and forth across the deck. If you take deliveries at your side door and delivery people walk across your deck often, you might also see the path they tread for each package they drop off!
It is a good idea to use a power washer on the deck to remove any peeling paint before you do anything else. You can purchase a power washer or rent one. If you buy one, you can keep it in your basement or garage. If you’d prefer to rent one, you can usually get one from Home Depot or Lowes.
After you use the power washer, purchase the right color and style of deck paint. You should note which paint color you use and figure out which company makes it. Most decks need a couple of gallons of paint, though larger decks will need more. You can get brushes and start on the deck first thing in the morning before it’s too hot. You probably won’t need to repaint the entire deck. You’ll just need to hit the spots where activity has stripped the paint away.
When you’ve finished painting, make sure to put up some rope or tape and a sign indicating you have wet paint and you need to let it dry. You can reopen your deck to traffic after a day or so. Make sure to keep any pets off of it while it’s drying.
Switch Out Your Screen Door
You might have a storm door on your front door or side door, and maybe you have a storm door on your backdoor leading into the backyard as well. While screens are the best choice on those storm doors during the summer, to get some air circulating through the house, when the cooler weather comes as fall approaches, you should get out your solid glass door partitions and switch them with the screen ones. Mostly, you’ll see homes with partial screen partitions for the doors. The top half of each door has a mesh screen, while the bottom half has a glass pane. Most people like to keep the unused partition in the basement, attic, root cellar, or maybe out in the garage when they’re not using it. Make sure you keep it in a spot where you’ll remember it, though.
When you feel like the cooler weather justifies switching out the partition, get the solid glass one and bring it to the door. Usually, you can find clasps around the door’s exterior. You can flip those into position and remove the door’s screen version. Then, you can easily slip the solid glass pane into the door and lock it in place.
If you are not sure how to do that with your door model, you can usually find pictures and sometimes even videos online regarding how to do it. Then, you can simply store the screen door partition in the same place you kept the solid glass pane. You can get it out again in the late spring or early summer and make the switch again.
You can tackle these DIY projects sometime over the next few weeks, and in doing so you'll not only be ready for the colder winter weather, you'll also have a good head start on getting ready for holiday gatherings!
