Article by Jennifer Miller 

If there’s one thing Montanans know, it’s that winter doesn’t always wait for the calendar. One week you’re enjoying crisp fall afternoons. The next, you’re scraping frost off the windshield before sunrise. In eastern Montana, our homes endure months of freezing temperatures, strong winds, snow, and freeze-thaw cycles. While we can’t control the weather, we can prepare our homes before winter arrives. Taking care of a few maintenance tasks in early fall can help prevent costly repairs and keep your home safer, warmer, and more efficient throughout the season. 

Start at the Top: Roof & Gutters 

One of the best places to begin is with your roof and gutters. Take a walk around your home and look for loose, missing, or lifting shingles, damaged flashing, or anything else that appears out of place. Make sure downspouts are secure, especially after the strong winds common across eastern Montana. A clogged gutter in October can quickly become an ice problem in January. 

Protect What’s Exposed 

While checking the exterior, don’t overlook smaller signs of wear that can leave surfaces exposed to winter weather. Matt Jansen of Matt the Painter recommends looking for bare wood or exposed siding and trim where paint or stain has begun to fail. Pay particular attention to areas where snow and moisture collect, including decks, windowsills, handrails, and the bottoms of garage door frames. Small cracks or peeling paint aren’t necessarily an emergency, but they’re worth watching. 

“The sooner you address these issues, the less costly and time consuming it becomes to fix,” Jansen says. He also recommends checking caulking around windows and doors for spots where it’s starting to fail, and not waiting too long if repairs call for painting or priming. While many exterior paints are rated for temperatures as low as 35 degrees, Jansen notes that not all primers are. 

His advice heading into fall is simple: get ahead of it. Getting an estimate, ordering materials, and getting on a contractor’s schedule all take time. Addressing trouble spots early gives homeowners a better chance of getting the work done before Montana’s temperatures make the decision for them. 

Give Your Heating System a Head Start 

There’s nothing worse than discovering your heating system isn’t working on the first freezing night of the year. Before temperatures consistently dip below freezing, replace your furnace filter, test your thermostat, and schedule an inspection if your system is due for one. If your home relies on a boiler or hot-water heating system, fall is also the time to make sure it’s operating properly. 

Josh Thelen of G&T Plumbing and Mechanical, Inc., recommends turning the heat on before you really need it. “If you have a boiler, don’t wait for the first below-zero night to find out there’s a problem,” Thelen says. “Run the system in the fall and make sure it’s heating the home properly.” A boiler failure during a prolonged cold spell can become more than a heating problem, leaving plumbing and heating lines vulnerable to freezing. As Thelen puts it, “When it’s 20 below, that’s not the time you want to discover your boiler has a problem.” 

Protect Your Pipes 

A few simple plumbing precautions now can help prevent a much bigger headache later. Thelen recommends disconnecting garden hoses and winterizing sprinkler systems before freezing temperatures arrive. Even frost-free hose bibs can freeze when a hose is left attached, since they aren’t able to drain properly. He also recommends paying attention to plumbing in garages, crawl spaces, shops, exterior walls, and other areas that aren’t consistently heated or well insulated. 

Homeowners should also know where their main water shutoff is located and make sure they can operate it. If a pipe freezes or bursts, knowing how to quickly shut off the water can help limit damage. The key, Thelen says, is taking care of these jobs before below-zero temperatures are in the forecast. 

Don’t Forget Your Yard 

While gardens may be winding down, your landscape still needs attention before winter. Ben Nienaber of Spring Creek Landscaping recommends aerating lawns before they go dormant and applying a winter fertilizer with pre-emergent to help keep spring weeds at bay. It’s also important to blow out irrigation systems before the first hard freeze, and homeowners shouldn’t put off scheduling the job. “Guys get booked up quick,” Nienaber says. 

And while the growing season may be ending, watering doesn’t necessarily have to. Eastern Montana winters tend to be dry, which can be hard on trees and shrubs. During mild, dry stretches, Nienaber recommends watering when the soil is dry and temperatures are above freezing. Just remember to disconnect the hose afterward. 

Young trees and evergreens may need a little extra attention too, Nienaber says. Wrapping young tree trunks can help protect against frost cracks. Shielding young evergreens from strong wind and watering them when conditions allow can help reduce winter burn. 

Before calling it a season, clean patio furniture, store cushions, cover pieces remaining outside, and give your grill a thorough cleaning. A little attention now can help extend the life of these investments. 

Keep Cold Air Outside 

Montana winters have a way of finding every tiny crack around a window or door. Alex Shin of 406 Windows says the biggest culprit is usually older windows and doors without modern weatherstripping or a tight compression seal. A home’s exhaust system can make the problem worse, too. If it’s pulling more air out of the house than is coming back in, it creates negative pressure that pulls outside air in through whatever gap it can find, Shin says. 

The most cost-effective fix, according to Shin, is proper weatherstripping around doors and a plastic window film or a custom interior glass insert for older windows. Foggy or icy windows are a related headache. Shin recommends cracking a window or running the exhaust fan a little longer after a shower, bath, or cooking to clear out excess humidity, since that moisture is often what’s condensing on the cold glass. Keeping blinds open during the day helps too, since closed blinds act like insulation and keep the glass colder than the rest of the room. Aiming heating vents toward windows and doors, and easing off a humidifier if condensation becomes a problem, can also help. 

Keep Pests Outside 

As temperatures drop, insects and rodents start looking for a warm place to spend the winter. Inspect the home’s exterior for gaps around utility lines, doors, windows, vents, and the foundation. Keeping woodpiles away from the house and repairing damaged screens can also help reduce unwanted visitors. 

Check Your Safety Systems 

Fall is also a good time to test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and replace batteries if needed. If your home has a fireplace or wood stove, make sure it’s inspected and cleaned before lighting the first fire of the season. 

Small Projects, Big Payoff 

Preparing your home for winter doesn’t have to happen in one weekend. Instead, tackle one project at a time throughout September. Clean the gutters one Saturday. Replace your furnace filter the next. Seal drafty windows the following weekend. 

Those small jobs add up. When the first snowstorm rolls through, you’ll be glad you spent a little time getting ahead of it. Because while we can’t predict exactly what a Montana winter will bring, we can make sure our homes are ready for it. 

Your September Weekend Checklist 

• Clean gutters and downspouts 
• Inspect your roof and flashing 
• Check exterior paint, stain, caulk, siding, and trim 
• Seal drafts around windows and doors 
• Seal gaps around vents, utility lines, and your foundation to keep pests out 
• Replace your furnace filter and test your heating system 
• Service your boiler or hot-water heating system if needed 
• Locate and test your main water shutoff 
• Disconnect garden hoses 
• Winterize your sprinkler system 
• Check plumbing in unheated areas 
• Water trees and shrubs before the ground freezes 
• Clean and cover outdoor furniture; store cushions 
• Clean and cover your grill 
• Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors 
• Make sure ice melt and snow shovels are ready 

Originally printed in the September 2026 issue of Simply Local Magazine

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