Nothing about a house fails in October. It fails in January, at half past six in the morning, when the boiler won’t fire or a gutter has been overflowing onto the same patch of wall for weeks.
Almost all of it is avoidable, and autumn is when the avoiding happens. Here’s the order we’d tackle it in.
Start outside, and start at the top
Roofs are easiest to check while it’s still dry and light. From ground level with binoculars, look for slipped or missing tiles, a ridge line that’s gone wavy, and lead flashing round chimneys, dormers and where a rear extension meets the main wall.
Flashing is the quiet troublemaker. It’s where movement happens, and it’s the first place water gets in on the older stock across much of North West London.
While you’re looking up, check the loft on a bright day. Daylight where there shouldn’t be any, or a stain on a rafter, tells you plenty.
Gutters and downpipes, before and after leaf fall
Clearing gutters is the most valuable autumn job, and the reason it gets missed is timing — most people do it too early and the trees fill it back up.
If you have trees nearby, plan on two goes: one now, one once the leaves are down in late November. Otherwise one thorough clear in late autumn will do.
Check as you go:
- Gutters running clear rather than pooling, and brackets still firmly fixed
- Joints not dripping — the giveaway is a green stripe down the wall below
- Downpipes clear all the way to the gully, which itself needs to be free of leaves
- Water discharging away from the wall, not against it
Better still, watch the whole system during heavy rain once. Thirty seconds of that beats an hour of inspecting.
Walls, paintwork and pointing
Walk the perimeter and look properly at the brickwork. Crumbling mortar, cracked or hollow-sounding render, and paintwork lifting on timber all let water in and hold it there.
Catch it while the timber and render are still sound and it’s a straightforward prep-and-recoat. Left through a wet winter, the same spot becomes a repair before it can be a paint job. Prioritise the south-westerly wall — that’s the side that takes the weather.
Check ground levels while you’re down there. Soil, decking or a raised path sitting above the damp proof course is a common cause of damp that has nothing to do with the wall itself.
Book the boiler service now, not in December
Service your boiler in autumn for one reason: availability. Engineers’ diaries fill the moment the temperature drops, and the first cold snap generates weeks of emergency call-outs. A service booked in October happens on your schedule. A breakdown in January happens on everyone else’s.
A service also catches small faults — a tired pump, a failing diverter valve, low pressure — while they’re still parts rather than replacements.
If you let the property, the annual Gas Safety Certificate is a separate legal requirement and must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Worth arranging both at once. Rules do change, so check the current position if you’re unsure.
Test the heating properly
Run the heating for a full hour on a mild day, well before you need it.
- Bleed any radiator that’s cold at the top — a radiator key and a cloth is all it takes
- Feel each radiator top to bottom; cold at the bottom suggests sludge, a job for us rather than a key
- Check the thermostat and timer are set for the season
- Look at the boiler pressure gauge and top up via the filling loop if it’s low, following your boiler’s instructions. If it keeps dropping, something is leaking — that’s one for us
Then leave it running and listen. Knocking, gurgling or a radiator that never warms is far easier to sort now.
Pipes, lofts and cold corners
Burst pipes are the most expensive winter failure and the cheapest to prevent. Lag any pipework in the loft, garage, cellar or unheated utility, and don’t forget the cold water tank if you have one.
Insulation should sit around loft pipes and tanks, not underneath — a tank insulated from the warm house below is a tank that freezes.
Then find your stopcock, and turn it. Half the ones we meet are seized, painted over or hidden behind a cupboard of cleaning products. Knowing it moves is what turns a burst pipe into an inconvenience rather than a ceiling.
Outside taps want isolating and draining before the first freeze.
Draughts, drains and the last few jobs
Draughtproofing round doors, letterboxes and loft hatches is cheap and immediate. Check the loft insulation depth while you’re up there.
Clear gullies, channel drains and any drain near trees before the heavy rain arrives. Garden furniture, hoses and pots are worth putting away the same day.
If you let the property
Give tenants a short note covering where the stopcock is, how to bleed a radiator, how to use the extractor fans, and what to report. Most winter damage arrives via something small nobody mentioned for a month.
Arrange access for the boiler service and gutter clear in one visit, not three.
If you’d rather hand the list over
We do winter prep visits across North West London and the Home Counties — gutters, roof checks, boiler servicing, lagging and the rest.
Send us a photo through our Get a quote page or give us a ring on 07872 606019, and we’ll sort the whole list in one visit before the cold arrives.
