Halloween is on the way. That means costumes, decorations, parties, and more. It’s an exciting season and many people’s favorite holiday of the entire year.
Get ready for the festivities by doing some decorations and repairs around your house. Most American homeowners, 53%, have done home improvement in the past year, according to Scarborough research. Why not use that home improvement to make your Halloween prep?
If you’re thinking about how to prepare for Halloween, think about your whole house and not just your decorations. Here, we’ll offer some decorating tips, as well as some ideas for repair and maintenance around your home. Your decorations will fall flat if your plumbing needs to be repaired.
Check out these 7 tips for how to prepare for Halloween.
1. Decorate the Garage
The garage is one of the first things trick or treaters and party guests alike will see as they approach your house on Halloween. Don’t forget to decorate it when you are thinking about how to prepare for Halloween!
You might start with the garage doors. This is a great place to hang up decorations. You can cover the doors in fake cobwebs or stick decorations to the doors themselves. The best part is that you don’t need to worry about the damage the way you might if you were sticking things to the walls inside your home.
You could also decorate around the garage itself. If the roof of the garage is accessible, you could put up Halloween colored lights or other hanging decorations. Perhaps there are some bats flying around your garage or spooky ghosts swooping in on Halloween.
You don’t need to stop at the exterior of the garage, however. You can also use the whole garage. If you are planning how to prepare for Halloween, think about if you want to greet trick or treaters at your garage instead of your front door.
Some people decide to open their garage on Halloween. Trick or treaters can enter the garage to get their treats. The garage is also a great place to decorate.
Because the inside of a garage can take rougher treatment, you can really go big with the decorations here. You might use a smoke machine and lights to create an eerie, ominous atmosphere. Or you could set up mannequins and dummies that you can dress up in scary costumes.
The garage is a great location to keep in mind while you plan how to prepare for Halloween because it is so versatile. Whether it’s open or closed, it is a spot you don’t want to overlook while making your preparations this October.
2. The Roof Isn’t Just for Christmas Lights
We often associate our roofs with hanging Christmas lights and that could cause people to overlook it while thinking about how to prepare for Halloween.
That might be a mistake. There are just as many fun Halloween lights as there are Christmas lights. Why not hang those up as you would hang up Christmas lights? This can make your home really stand out in your neighborhood. You will have something bright and eye-catching that people can see even from the road.
You might also do what you’d do with the garage and put up hanging decorations around your roof. You could hang bats, ghosts, witches or whatever else you think you can secure safely.
Of course, you shouldn’t hang up lights or decorations if it’ll be unsafe. Plus, while you are putting up decorations, you might notice some damage to your roof. This can be a great opportunity to think about roof repairs.
For many people, Halloween is the end of friendly weather and the start of cold, rain and maybe even snow. If your roof has damage, pre-Halloween might be a good time to get on top of that. Your decoration prep can reveal a problem that is better to take care of now rather than later when the weather might prohibit roof work.
3. Spruce up the Fence
Fences are easy to overlook. They aren’t very exciting most of the year, so why not give them a chance to shine during the Halloween season?
One of the best things about fences is they are so accessible. Other ideas for how to prepare for Halloween, such as the roof and garage, might require a ladder and safety equipment. That isn’t a problem when it comes to fences. You can almost always reach them easily, which makes them much less of a decorating hassle.
Webs are a great thing to use on fences. You could string fake webs along the fence for as far back as you want to go. This simple decoration can give your whole house a spooky mood as people approach. This is great for both spooking trick or treaters and setting a mood for a house party.
As with the roof, this is a great time to make note of damage in your fence. If you find you need fence repair, you might want to get that work done before bad weather sets in. A fence that is damaged will only get worse when the weather turns wet and nasty.
4. Get Some Repairs Done
We’ve mentioned repairs and how important it is to get them done, but this cannot be stressed enough. If October means winter is approaching where you live, the weather could turn against you while you are thinking about how to prepare for Halloween. You definitely want to get ahead of necessary home repairs while you still can.
Something you might be thinking about is HVAC services. This is especially important if you are planning to have parties for Halloween. You wouldn’t want your heating and cooling to be on the fritz at a time when you are hosting people in your home.
This kind of thing doesn’t sound like it’s connected to how to prepare for Halloween, but it can have a large impact on how your celebrations go. An HVAC system that isn’t working or needs repair can cost you money and leave you and your guests uncomfortable. That can really put a damper on the Halloween spirit.
Speaking of the HVAC, it is tied to your entire electrical system. That is another big thing you definitely don’t want to find is broken while you think about how to prepare for Halloween.
This is not merely a matter of comfort. If your electric isn’t working right, you might not be able to pull off decorations. Your lights might not work or might drain more energy than you thought they would. Your garage set up might reveal that your electricity isn’t working in that area at all. That can be a big hit to your preparations.
If you find your electric is having problems, you should contact a commercial electrician for help. This kind of repair work can be dangerous if you try to do it yourself.
5. Kick Out Unwanted Guests
While there are many guests you’ll be happy to see this Halloween, there are a few you might not be so thrilled about. That includes bugs, rodents, and other pests. These critters might be sneaking into your house and making themselves at home without you even knowing it.
With the weather turning colder, some pests will be looking for places to hide and build nests. Make sure those places don’t include your home.
If you are considering your garage as you think about how to prepare for Halloween, you might find a pest problem here. Garages are easy to access and can therefore become a place where pests hide and maybe even build nests.
If the problem isn’t too bad, you may be able to take some pro-active steps before the cold weather really sets in. However, if you find a more severe circumstance, you could find yourself in need of professional pest control services to kick out these unwanted guests.
Other trouble spots might include your roof or basement. These are both easy to overlook. While you are thinking about how to prepare for Halloween, maybe taken inventory of these overlooked locations to see if you have extra guests living in your home.
Missing these kinds of issues can have a high cost. Food waste from things like parties might serve to attract even more pests before you’ve even gotten rid of the old ones. That can make the problem grow over time until you discover a major infestation you now have to deal with.
6. Make Sure Your Pipes are Ready for Winter
Speaking of the oncoming cold weather, make sure your pipes are ready for it. Pipes can get cold in winter and that could cause blockages that require plumbing services to fix.
If you know you tend to have these kinds of issues when it comes to your pipes, you might want to work on addressing them ahead of time as much as you can. A burst pipe can put a real damper on your Halloween plans and decorations. Plus, these kinds of issues can be expensive if they occur all of a sudden and without warning.
Even if your pipes are perfect, however, you could be considering plumbing contractors while thinking about how to prepare for Halloween. This is particularly important if you plan on hosting parties.
Parties can be tough on all your home systems and that including the plumbing. If you have a septic tank, you might want to look into septic tank services before you are hosting people and putting extra stress on that system. That is definitely not a problem you want to discover the hard way.
7. Clean Out the Drains and Gutters
Finally, why not do some cleaning while you are taking stock of your whole home? You are thinking about how to prepare for Halloween anyway. A little cleaning will both make your preparations better and ward off problems.
Two of the most important things to clean our drains and gutters. Both can get tremendously backed up while we are busy thinking about other things.
If you are climbing up onto your roof anyway to hang up decorations for Halloween, take a moment to check out your gutters. Are they overflowing? Do they need a quick cleaning before autumn arrives and the leaves start falling? Now is the time to get that kind of work done so you are prepared.
The same goes for drains. If you plan to host parties during Halloween, make sure drains are clear. The added stress from your guests will only make these systems more backed up and over-taxed. The time to address the problem is before it starts. Drain cleaning is simple and can be done by the homeowner, though you can also get professional services if you have a more serious backup to contend with.
Don’t Forget to Decorate and Have Fun
All of this advice is only useful if you have fun this Halloween. Yes, it might be hard work now, but it is all in service of having a great Halloween season.
While you think about how to prepare for Halloween, think about what you want to get out of the holiday the most. Is it about the decorations for you? Maybe you just want an excuse to bring friends and family together before the weather turns. Or perhaps it’s some combination.
Whatever your reasons, take some time to also think about your home overall while you think about how to prepare for Halloween. This can be a great opportunity to make sure your whole home is ready for fall and winter, from the gutters to the electric to the garage. Bad weather can make existing problems worse, so now is the time to suss out and address issues.
Perhaps you won’t find any problems. It was still worth checking. At worst, you will get to know your home inside and out and that is never wasted knowledge.
However, you plan to decorate and celebrate, don’t forget to have fun. When you consider how to plan for Halloween always remember that the holiday should be a fun time for both you and your guests. You can’t go wrong if you keep the Halloween spirit in mind.