Get Ready For Spring

Home Maintenance Tips To Get Ready for Spring

When the seasons change, so do the requirements of maintaining your home. Maintaining a healthy home goes beyond a little spring cleaning. The bright spring sunlight highlights the maintenance projects to be done, Your leaf-filled gutters, cracked sidewalks and the dead plants in flower beds are in need of attention. Follow this checklist to target the areas that need maintenance so you can get your chores done quickly, leaving you time to go outside and play
in the sunshine.

Clean Gutters And Examine Roof Shingles

After those winter thunderstorms and winter ice storms, your roof and gutters may have taken a beating. You need to check your gutters for debris. Remove as much as you can with your hands and remove any leftover gunk with a garden hose. Clear the downspouts, too. Make sure your downspouts channel water at least five feet from foundation walls. And while you’re up there, visually examine the roof, all the shingles and flashing, for damage. If your home has older roofing, you may want to get an estimate and start a budget for replacement. The summer sun can really damage roof shingles. Shingles that are cracked, buckled or loose or are missing granules need to be replaced. Flashing around plumbing vents, skylights and chimneys need to be checked and repaired by a qualified roofer.

Scrub Walls, Baseboards and Outlets

Even though we’re been cleaning all year, some things tend to get overlooked and get dusty. Wipe down all the walls — in the bathroom, kitchen, bedrooms and living areas — with a soft sponge or cloth and mild soap and water. This includes baseboards and outlets. Make sure to completely dry outlet covers before replacing. You may also want to wipe down or dust all of the lighting fixtures and ceiling fans.

Replace Filters

Normally, we remember to replace our HVAC filters on a regular basis. But after a long winter indoors, all the other household filters need replacing, too. Replace all filters including water, refrigerator, range hood and air vent filters. You should replace these filters every 3-6 months depending on the type of filter you have.

Clean Faucets and Shower-heads

Unscrew the faucet aerators, sink sprayers and shower-heads, and soak them in equal parts vinegar and water solution. Let them soak for an hour, then rinse with warm water. If you can’t remove them you can use an old toothbrush to give them a good scrubbing with the solution.

Clean Out the Dryer Vent

A clogged dryer vent is a big fire hazard that is often forgotten about. To clean it, disconnect the vent from the back of the clothes dryer, Use a dryer vent brush to remove lint. From the outside, remove the dryer vent cover and use the brush to remove lint from the other end of the vent. Make sure the vent cover flap moves freely.

Wash Exterior Windows

Wash all your exterior windows and doors and examine the screens and weatherstripping. Any signs of cracked, missing or damaged seals and weatherstripping invites unwanted pests. You’ll also lose your air conditioning through the spring and summer and make your HVAC system work harder. Now is the time to repair it. Hire a window-cleaning service to clean all exterior windows, if necessary.

Keep Allergens Away

Spring is allergy season. In addition to sealing windows and doors, keep dust, mold and pollen at bay by decluttering your home. Check your pipes leaks, which can promote mold and mildew growth. A whole house or room air filtering system may help keep the air clean.

Check Your Foundation And Vents

If your house has a crawl space, it has vents along the foundation walls. These vents provide air circulation, which helps prevent excess moisture and mold growth. These vents have screens that prevent critters from taking up residence underneath your home. The screens collect leaves and other debris from fall and winter. Spring is the time to clean them out and check for damage. Replace any damaged screens, since mice and squirrels can get through even the smallest holes. A few spring home maintenance tips are to clear debris away from the foundation and to make sure water isn’t standing around it. If you happen to notice cracks in your home’s foundation, contact foundation repair services right away. They can make any needed fixes, so you aren’t dealing with any long term, costly issues down the road.

Clean the Grill And Clean The Outdoor Furniture

Your grill has most likely collected dust during fall and winter. If you have a charcoal grill, you may just need to check for rust and wash it down with the garden hose. If you have a gas grill, you will need to inspect and maybe clean the fittings. Make sure you have replaced the gas tank, it may have been damaged over the winter. While you’re cleaning, make sure your outdoor furniture is clean and in good repair.

Prep Your Garden

Once it’s warm enough, the caterpillars, butterflies and other insects in your garden have woken up and moved on. Now, it’s time to remove all the old leaves and other debris and prepare the soil. It also means getting out your lawn mower and doing any necessary maintenance to ensure it operates properly. So, clean out the gas tank, check the spark plugs, and do any other necessary maintenance you need to do.

Test Smoke Alarms

Every spring and fall you should test the smoke and carbon dioxide alarms and change the batteries. Yes, the batteries might be fine, but new ones may save your family’s lives. You can use the old ones for something else.

Have Your HVAC System Checked

Every spring and fall, you should have your HVAC system inspected and serviced. Parts of your HVAC system run all year long. Other parts run seasonally. If you’ve been running the heat all winter, you need to be sure that your system is ready to handle warmer weather when late spring and summer arrive. An Abacus professional HVAC technician can check all the necessary connections, replace any worn out parts and filters, and ensure that your system is in ship-shape, ready to handle whatever coming heat or cold comes its way. An uncleaned HVAC system can spread all sorts of allergens in the air, leaving unsuspecting homeowners vulnerable to a whole host of potential health problems.

Have Your Plumbing Checked

Having your annual plumbing inspection by experienced plumbing professionals is invaluable to keeping your plumbing system in good shape. Nothing is worse for a homeowner than dealing with a plumbing problem, especially one that shuts down a bathroom or a shower. If you live in an older home, with older plumbing, you don’t want to take any chances on even the smallest of issues. Your plumber will be able spot potential problems and issues before a leak occurs.

Check Your Electricity

As you clean up your home and follow spring maintenance tips to get your home spring-ready, don’t forget to check your electricity. There’s nothing worse than having the power go out or having an important appliance stop working in the middle of the night because of some kind of electrical issue. Your electrician will inspect all of your home’s electrical connections, starting from your breaker box and going room by room to make sure wiring is in good shape. They can also make any necessary electrical upgrades to ensure your family’s safety. It ensures that when you plug things into an outlet, turn on a lamp or even connect to WiFi, that your home isn’t going to experience outages, shortages, or surges.

By taking the time now to get your home ready, you can spend your spring and summer nights enjoying the nice weather and doing the things you love to do, rather than spending time making repairs and spending money because you skimped on spring cleaning. By the time spring comes around, your home will be looking spic and span inside and out.