Fall checklist for a well-and-septic home in zone 5b

Heat tape is the only thing keeping the well line from freezing in a crawlspace or well pit, and it fails quietly: the plug got pulled, the tape cracked, the outlet tripped. The first hard freeze is when you find out. Check it before that.

Do it yourself, $0 to $60, about 20 min

A frost-free hydrant works by draining the standpipe into the ground every time you close it. Leave a hose on, or leave the handle partway, and the standpipe stays full and freezes solid. Then it splits underground, and you dig.

Do it yourself, no cost, about 10 min

A hose left on a spigot traps water in the faucet body inside the wall. The first hard freeze splits it, and you find out when you turn it on in April and water pours into the basement. The whole job takes twenty minutes.

Do it yourself, $0 to $20, about 20 min

The well house holds the pressure tank, the switch and the pipe from the well, and none of it can freeze without breaking. A burned-out heat lamp on a 10 F night costs a pressure switch at best and a cracked tank at worst.

Do it yourself, $0 to $50, about 15 min

Creosote is the tar wood smoke leaves in the flue, and it burns at around 2,000 F when it catches. Some chimney fires roar like a freight train. Others burn quietly and crack the flue, which opens a path for flames to reach the wood framing of the house. Start every heating season with a clean flue and a cap that keeps the birds out.

Hire a pro, $150 to $350, about 60 min

Wet wood causes much of the trouble with a wood stove: it burns cool, blackens the glass and coats the flue with the creosote that starts chimney fires. A moisture meter costs less than a cord of wood, and a woodpile kept away from the house keeps the bugs and the mice outside.

Do it yourself, $0 to $40, about 30 min

The stovepipe is the hottest pipe in the house, and it runs close to walls and a ceiling that can burn. Loose joints leak smoke and carbon monoxide, and a blocked cap pushes them back into the house. Twenty minutes with a flashlight and binoculars finds both.

Do it yourself, $0 to $80, about 20 min

Ashes hide live coals for days. Many house fires from wood stoves start with ashes in a plastic bucket on the porch. The right can, in the right spot, before the season starts, removes the temptation.

Do it yourself, $0 to $50, about 15 min

A leaky door gasket lets air in around the seal instead of through the controls, so the stove runs hot and fast, eats wood, and cannot be turned down. A new gasket costs little, and the test needs nothing but a dollar bill.

Do it yourself, $0 to $30, about 15 min

Full gutters spill water at the foundation, and it ends up in the basement or the crawlspace. In winter, snowmelt that cannot drain through them freezes at the edge of the roof and can back water up under the shingles. One cleaning after the leaves drop handles both.

Do it yourself, $0 to $250, about 90 min

When the fields are cut and the nights turn cold, mice move into country houses. They chew wiring, foul insulation and food, and carry disease. Sealing the way in each fall works far better than trapping all winter.

Do it yourself, $10 to $50, about 90 min

The attic is where roof leaks, bad vents and animals get started, and nobody goes up there until a ceiling stains. A half hour look each fall, before winter, finds a slow leak or a squirrel family while the fix is small.

Do it yourself, no cost, about 30 min

The first storm is a bad time to learn the snowblower will not start or the plow driver's route is full. A rural driveway is often the only way in for the propane truck and the ambulance, so getting the plan and the equipment ready in the fall is safety work, not just convenience.

Do it yourself, $0 to $500, about 60 min

A plow blade that wanders off the edge pushes your gravel into the ditch, and one that finds the culvert end or the well cap does real damage. Markers cost a few dollars each and last for years.

Do it yourself, $15 to $50, about 30 min

A town house keeps its water when the lights go out. A house on a well does not, and an ice storm or a hurricane can mean days without power at the end of a long rural line. A few stored jugs and a labeled breaker make an outage an inconvenience instead of a crisis.

Do it yourself, $0 to $50, about 30 min

The drain field is where a septic system actually gets expensive. It cannot be pumped or cleaned; once it fails it gets replaced. Keeping water, weight and roots off it is most of what protects a twenty thousand dollar piece of your yard.

Do it yourself, no cost, about 15 min