Preventive Maintenance Checklist for Fall/Winter

Important note: If you are addressing issues with the exterior of your home, please consult the Lakeport Design Standards and remember that you may have to seek approval from Reston Association’s Design Review Board.



Outdoor Checklist

• The continuing heat of summer means that the plants in our yards come under greater stress, especially during periods of no or little rain. To maintain the appearance of your yard (not to mention to save yourself the expense of replacement), please remember to water your plants when needed. Helpful information can be found at https://www.meadowsfarms.com/blog/tips-on-watering-your-plants/. 
• 
  Although Lakeport’s landscaping contractor takes care of common areas, our own driveways, yards, and other areas are our responsibility. Residents should not dump what they collect into the wooded common areas or on the street. Instead, they should dispose of leaves and other debris from yards, patios, driveways, decks, and entranceways (e.g., fallen and pruned branches, dead outdoor potted annuals) by placing them in large compostable paper yard-waste bags available at home improvement stores and Costco. Pickup for yard waste is Thursdays.
• Gutters, particularly those that are beneath a tree, may experience two problems: In the fall especially, the gutters easily become clogged, and/or any time of year, the spikes that attach them to the house may be pulling away. Even if you don’t have a tree nearby and even if you have something like a Gutter Helmet or a strainer screen over them, gutters can still fill up with cinders washed down from your shingles over time. When a gutter is not working properly, you’ll often see staining on the vertical wall below the gutter. Fixing the first problem is easy – have your gutters cleaned. Gutters that are not slanted properly toward the downspout can put a lot of weight on the gutter, leading to the second problem. If you see gutter spikes coming loose, you can just drive them back in, which may hold for a while. However, there’s a better, longer-term, yet inexpensive solution. Home Depot sells long gutter screws that can replace failing gutter spikes. They go through a ferrule (a sleeve that keeps the screw from compressing the gutter itself) and screw into the wood behind the gutter. These are far more secure in the long run.
• Fire-retardant plywood roof sheathing must be replaced if the material degrades due to high attic temperatures, which can cause it to fail to retard the spread of fire.

Indoor Checklist


• Be sure to replace or clean your HVAC filter regularly.
• Periodically remove screens and tighten the four Phillips screws for casement windows shown in the photo. This keeps windows operating well, especially if they don’t seem to close all the way from time to time.