Try the smoke alarms to make sure they’re working.
Check the pressure gauge on fire extinguishers. (Your owner’s manual will give the correct reading.)
Make sure the automatic garage door safely reverses as it should (see your owner’s manual). Adjust as necessary.
Take a child’s-eye tour of your home. Look for potential hazards (a hair dryer permanently plugged into a bathroom outlet, toxic cleaning products easily reached, uncapped electrical outlets, window shade cords reachable from a crib) and do something about them.
Unplug (and keep unplugged) all appliances not in daily use. If they’re not connected, they can’t start a fire or become a hazard to curious kids.
Wash the interior of the dishwasher with warm, soapy water to prevent fungus and mildew. (If you’re going to be away, have a neighbor run the dishwasher every two weeks so gaskets don’t dry out.)
Unclamp the vent pipe from the dryer and clean lint out. Reassemble tightly and check for leaks. Check the dryer door seal for leaks. Turn it on (the door must be closed) and run a tissue around the door. If the tissue is sucked in, the seal needs to be replaced.
Change the batteries in all your small electronics: portable phone and answering machine, smoke alarms etc. as well as all flashlights (bulbs too) and portable radios you might use in power outages.
Wash the filter (replace it if necessary) and clean the accumulated gook off the bristles of your vacuum cleaner, first making sure it’s unplugged.
Clean out the drain cup in the floor of your refrigerator: mix one cup hot water with one tablespoon baking soda. Squirt it into the drain with a plastic baster. Then pull out the catch basin under the refrigerator and empty it. Vacuum the coils on the back of the refrigerator.
Scrape out winter’s debris from gutters. Run a hose down drainpipes to wash them out. Then install gutter covers so you won’t have to do this anymore. If the gutters leak, repair or replace them.
