Repairing or improving a house begins with the exterior.

With summer’s heat and humidity hopefully behind us, homeowners could begin upgrades outside their homes said Ed Pfeifer, co-owner of Pfeifer Hardware and Supply in Mars.

“The easiest thing to do that adds value right off the bat is improving lawn and landscape,” Pfeifer said. “There’s immediate curb appeal. With the right guidance, you can have a beautiful lawn and be environmentally friendly. Attractive to almost anyone and prospective home buyers.”

Whether it’s weeding or adding new grass to a lawn, Pfeifer said the key is to have healthy soil so that less fertilizer and watering is needed. Using compost and introducing worms guarantees less fertilizer, herbicides and watering will be needed to maintain the lawn.

Pfeifer said his store sells products from Jonathan Green lawn maintenance program.

“Their approach puts your soil at the forefront of lawn care. Making it more sustainable with less fertilizer and watering,” Pfeifer said. “Jonathan Green seed selection is made for this region. Very high quality products. Carefully selected.”

Next, Pfeifer suggests, comes painting the exterior of the home.

“Early fall is a wonderful time to do exterior painting. The temperature moderates, humidity drops and it’s wonderful for the application of paint,” he said.

With the exterior done, Pfeifer advises moving inside the home to continue painting. With proper planning, the paint jobs could be done by Thanksgiving, he said.

Pfeifer also cautioned homeowners on flooding issues.

“The most important thing going on this time of year that they have to address is rain gutters on house,” Pfeifer said. Clogged gutters will cause water-related problems.

“Do it now before the leaves fall. I always recommend pre-fall application. Install gutters,” he said. “And then come back and inspect them in March.”

While the county’s housing stock of older homes is being mixed now with new developments, Pfeifer said there’s nothing wrong with moving into an older home as long as some precautions and checks are made.

“The most important thing moving into a home that’s older would be to make sure the wiring is updated and properly installed or done,” he said.

Buyers also should check the air-conditioning, furnace and roof.

And as the weather begins to cool, Rameen Mamoozadeh, president of Slippery Rock Hardware, warned about broken pipes.

“People will come in with frozen pipes once it gets cold. So insulation and heat tape are important,” Mamoozadeh said.

He also noted that last winter’s numerous power outages sent people running for generators. “Now’s a good time to think about getting a generator for this winter,” he said.

Mamoozadeh also noted that many people have pools of water collecting on their yards with no way to drain them. For that, he suggested buying a product called Hydroblox.

“If you imagine a 2- by 6-(foot) piece of lumber but its recycled plastic and it channels water off your property. It’s totally DIY,” Mamoozadeh said.