The GTA fall exterior checklist: 10 jobs before the freeze

Before the first hard freeze, GTA homeowners should trim branches off the roof, check the roof and caulking, shut off and drain outdoor taps, store hoses and rain barrels, test the sump pump, check grading and window wells, clean the gutters once the leaves are down, extend every downspout and get snow gear ready.

When should each job happen?

Start with the roof and the trees

Trim branches that hang over the roof while you can still see them clearly. It cuts the leaf load on the roof and in the gutters, and removes the launch points squirrels and raccoons use to reach the roofline. Animals in gutters covers why that matters. From the ground, scan the roof with binoculars for lifted or missing shingles and check the caulking around windows and doors. Anything that needs sealing wants mild, dry weather, which disappears quickly after mid-October.

Protect the water lines

Outdoor taps are the classic fall miss. Disconnect the hoses, shut off the water to each outdoor tap from the valve inside if your house has one, then open the outside tap to drain what is left in the line. Do it before overnight lows start dipping below zero. Drain and store the hoses, and take down any rain barrel, as the rain barrel guide covers, restoring its downspout extension.

Get the basement ready

• Test the sump pump by pouring water into the pit until the float lifts and the pump runs, and check the battery backup if you have one.
• If you have a backwater valve, check that its cap is accessible and that it is clear, following the manufacturer's instructions. Toronto subsidizes both devices: the basement flooding subsidy.
• Walk the outside: soil and paving should slope away from the foundation, and window wells should be clear of leaves, with their drains open.

Then the gutters, once the leaves are down

The main fall gutter cleaning belongs in the window after most leaves have dropped and before the gutters freeze, usually late October into mid-November across the GTA. Clean too early and the gutters refill within a week; too late and wet leaves freeze into the trough. Oak streets hold their leaves longest, so homes under big oaks may want the cleaning at the late end of the window, or a mid-fall touch-up and a final clean. The timing guide has the details, and skipping it is how ice dams begin.

Finish with the downspouts: flush each one and check that every extension carries water 1.5 to 2 metres from the house onto ground that slopes away, with nothing blocking the outlet that snow will bury. Where downspouts should drain covers the setup.

Last jobs before the snow

• On a cold day, look into the attic for daylight around vents and damp or frost on the underside of the roof; both point to the heat loss that feeds ice dams.
• Put driveway markers along the edges so snow clearing does not tear up the lawn.
• Stock ice melt that is safe for your paving and pets, and keep it away from the downspout discharge areas.
• Keep snow shovels and a roof rake where you can reach them from the door.

What does fall look like in Aurora?

Aurora keeps its small-town canopy, and the streets around the historic core drop serious leaf volume every October from their sugar maples, with towering spruce adding cones and needles. North of Wellington, the moraine edge brings oak and pine, and oaks there hold on to their leaves into November. That means the gutter cleaning belongs at the later end of the window on many Aurora streets.

A fall gutter cleaning in Aurora runs $299 to $499 before HST in 2026, with every downspout flushed and before and after photos. On the Crew Plan, members get their pick-your-day email in mid-October, timed so visits land after the leaves are down, at 15% off each visit.