A Homeowner's Best Friend: Your Spring Home Maintenance Checklist
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Spring has sprung and the weather is starting to warm up. Now that the days are getting longer, it’s prime time to take advantage of the extra daylight and take care of any outdoor issues to your home that may have happened over the winter months. Use this Spring Home Maintenance Checklist to help you get your house back up to par!
- Clean out the gutters: Leaves and debris can get lodged in your gutters and cause clogs and issues with water flow. To prevent damage to your home, it’s best to keep your gutters clean. If you’re not comfortable on a ladder, you can hire a pro to do it for you.
- Inspect the air conditioning unit: This is a two-part process. First, you’ll want to make sure your unit has good air flow and cut back any plants that are growing around it. Second, you’ll want to call a professional to come and inspect your unit to make sure the air conditioner is working efficiently. This ensures you’ll get the most bang for your buck when the temperature start rising or fix any problems before it gets too hot outside.
- Check the outside faucets: It’s time to reconnect the hoses for the warmer seasons and check for any leaks that could potentially cause you trouble. If you have a sprinkler system, it’s also time to flush it out and turn it back on. For irrigation systems, a professional (or sometimes your water company) can do the back flow testing for a small fee.
- Mower maintenance: If you have a yard, get your lawn mower ready for rapidly growing grass! You’ll want to change the engine oil, sharpen the cutting blade, and make sure it’s in good working order so your lawn will look great all spring and summer long.
- Check for termites: Termites do not like to make themselves known until it’s too late, and because of this no other insect strikes more fear for homeowners. As spring ramps up, termites are getting ready to find mates and start new colonies so it’s a great time to look for warning signs (like small holes in wood around your house, mud tubes, or small tunnels on your foundation or porch for example, and discarded wings around your home).
- Exterior painting: Spring is a great time to fix cracking or peeling paint before the weather gets too hot. Touch-up painting is usually inexpensive and can save you money in the long run since you’re providing a protective barrier from the various weather elements.
- Declutter and organize your garage: Is this project always on your to-do list? Now that it’s getting warmer, it’s the perfect time tackle this. Clear out and separate items that will be donated, kept, sold, and thrown away. Once you have a better idea of what’s staying in your garage, it’s easier to get organized. There are a lot of options for shelving if you want to move some of your storage space to the walls of your garage or even on your ceiling!
- Remove mold and mildew: Take the time to pressure wash decking, house siding, your patio, and driveway. It’s a great way to remove mold and mildew and to inspect each area for any damage that may have occurred over winter from ice, snow, or sitting water.
Print off this checklist and start knocking off these tasks quickly. Remember to keep track of your repairs so you’ll know what’s been done from season to season to keep your home in tip-top shape, to avoid from getting overwhelmed with home maintenance, and to keep your budget in check.
