Spring Home Maintenance
When Spring comes, it’s easy to think about and to prepare for Spring cleaning and organization. However, Spring should not involve just the cleaning of the interior of your house but should also involve regular maintenance of your home. Here are just a few items that we recommend on adding to your Spring list to ensure your home is in the best shape:
Clean your gutters.
Having your gutters cleaned will keep water from building up near the house and avoids potential seepage into your home. Overflowing gutters can also damage landscaping. When cleaning gutters it’s important to have the elbows and downspouts checked as well. It will do no good to have clean gutters, if there is a clog in the elbow or downspouts. (These are often not checked).
Pressure wash decks, driveways, fences and other outside surfaces.
I have had clients tell me that having their houses cleaned was the cheapest paint job they ever got—(because their home looked that good after cleaning). Power washers can be very effective along with someone who knows how to use it. So, consider this as a way to clean your drive, decks, sidewalks, or to remove mildew.
Have your blacktopped driveway cracks filled and sealed.
This will extend the life of your drive and is rather inexpensive to have done. A properly sealed drive should look good for 2 years.
Clean or replace your HVAC filters.
This should be done when the HVAC system goes through its annual tune-up for the season. As soon as temps reach 65 degrees the systems can be accurately tested and tuned up.
AC Housing.
Keep the area around the air conditioning housing cleared of plants and debris as this can impede airflow and cause the unit to run inefficiently. Also the unit should be not be sitting in the dirt. Plastic platforms, and/or cement are ideal for the unit to be sitting on. This will also keep the unit from rusting.
Clean your dryer vent.
This helps the dryer run efficiently, and prevents overheating.
Check the washing machine fill hose.
Hoses can become brittle with age and crack. A quick visual check of the hoses for any leaking is an easy thing to do and could save you from a real mess.
Vacuum your refrigerator coils.
The coils you’ll find on the bottom or back of your refrigerator conduct the hot air from inside the unit. If they’re coated with dust, they do the job less efficiently and cause your refrigerator to work harder. That means higher electric bill for you. Use a vacuum cleaner hose or a brush to clean the coils. Some units have a backer with screws or clips that needs removing to clean thoroughly.
Replace the batteries in your smoke and CO2 detectors.
Once a year, change out the batteries.
Insider Tip: Use an index card to write down the location of the detectors and the date the batteries were changed. This will help you check-off each detector location and ensure all have working batteries.
Check for rodents and bats.
You would be amazed how many homeowners think they have mice; only to find out they really have bats. Early spring is a good time to have your house inspected to find out if you have mice or bats. There is a season for bat removal, so if you are not early enough, you will be waiting until fall to legally have them removed.
Consider painting the house and decking.
Decks should be cleaned every year and restained/sealed every 2 to 4 years depending on the materials used on the deck. It is cheaper to maintain a deck than to replace a deck. Same goes for painting. Cleaning the exterior of the house every couple of years and touching up as needed, will be less expensive than repainting the entire house, and keeps your home looking good between paint jobs.