How to prepare your home for holiday guests

Holidays bring guests, and guests — no matter how welcome — bring stress. But with a little preparation, you can reduce some of that holiday strain before the doorbell rings. It may be too late to plan ahead for Thanksgiving, but these tips can get your home in guest-shape by the next wave of holidays.

Now's the time to ready the guest rooms, tackle those little maintenance lapses and make sure the house is ready to accommodate a crowd.

Beth Dodson knows how important that is. The co-founder of the home management site HomeZada (www.homezada.com) remembers one holiday when her guests kept spraying themselves accidentally with a cheap kitchen sink sprayer that had an unfortunate tendency to stick. "I had a lot of wet people at Thanksgiving that year," she said.

Dodson offered a few suggestions for readying your home for the onslaught:

Look for the little problems. Every house has them — loose doorknobs, toilet handles that have to be held down when you're flushing, that sticking sink sprayer. We get used to them, so we know how to make them work and hardly even notice them. But our guests don't know our workarounds. Do them a favor and fix those niggling problems before the holidays, Dodson suggested. It will save your guests the embarrassment of having to ask how to work something — or, worse yet, thinking they broke it.

Address plumbing issues. With just a few people in the house, sluggish drains are an annoyance. With a crowd, they're a flood in the making. Make sure toilets are working properly and drains are operating effectively. If you have a guest bath that's rarely used, make a point of using all the plumbing fixtures there to make sure they're working right.

Check the garbage disposal. The garbage disposal merits extra attention, because it's prone to fail with heavy use.

Freshen up caulk. Worn bathroom caulk is more than an eyesore. It's an invitation to leaks. Dodson recommended checking the state of your caulk and replacing it, if necessary. It's a fairly easy and inexpensive do-it-yourself project that could save you the big expense of repairing water damage, while making your home more appealing to your guests.

Lighten up. Take a tour of your house and test all the lights. If bulbs are burned out, replace them. If switches or fixtures aren't working, get them fixed. Dodson also recommended making sure all the hallways and bathrooms your guests will use have working night lights. You want the guests to find their way without the risk of injury.

Seal leaks. Leaks around windows and doors can produce uncomfortable drafts, and your guests may not have packed sweaters to ward off the chill. Caulking those gaps and replacing worn weatherstripping and door sweeps will make your home more comfortable, Dodson said. And you'll be happy about the money you'll save on your heating bills.

Be ready for snow. Stock up on de-icer for slippery walkways and steps. Give some thought to where guests will park in the event of a snow emergency.

Address squeaks. Most guests want to be unobtrusive. Squeaky doors and floorboards might make them feel uncomfortable moving around your house, especially at night when the house is otherwise quiet, Dodson said. Fixing them might require just a squirt of lubricant on a hinge or a sprinkle of cornstarch between floorboards.