After a long and dreary winter, spring brings the sun, warm winds, and a breath of fresh air. The only obstacle to enjoying this fabulous weather? All the work that has to be put in to prepare your house for spring.
As the sun shines a spotlight on your clogged gutters, cracked pavements, and dead plants from last year’s flower beds, follow these spring tips for homeowners to target areas needing upkeep. Spring is also when many people are looking to purchase a house, and well-maintained homes can significantly improve your chance of getting good value!
Eight Spring Tips for Homeowners
Clear Out Clogged Gutters and Downspouts
After the last frost has passed, the first thing to do is to have your gutters and downspouts cleaned and repaired. With more rainfall this time of the year, many homeowners chose to install rain barrels to collect precious rainwater and use it for their landscaping. Even without a water collection system, gutters and downspouts have to be cleaned of leaves and other debris. Clogged gutters and downspouts can hurt the wood trim at the eaves, and can attract all kinds of insects into your attic space. If your downspouts are installed correctly, water is diverted away from the house and doesn’t collects around your foundation.
Inspect the Roof
House roofs take quite a beating during winter storms. Begin by making a simple visual inspection of your roof. Examine if there are any missing shingles, metal pipes that are damaged or missing, or anything that simply doesn’t look right. If your home has an aged roof covering, you may want to start budgeting for replacement. The summer sun can hurt roof shingles. Replace cracked, buckled or loose shingles or missing granules. Flashing around plumbing vents, skylights and chimneys need to be checked and repaired by a qualified roofer.
Check Exterior Woodwork
Wood decks, fences, rails, trellises, arches, and other exterior structures will last longer and stay sturdy if they’re resealed every year. One useful spring tip for homeowners is to give your deck a sprucing up. Smart homeowners do this regularly even if the wood is pressure treated. You want to keep a fresh coat of stain or wood preservative yearly. Doing so will extend the life of your deck.
Inspect Driveways and Paths
Properly maintaining your driveway can help extend the life and drastically enhance its look. Freeze and thaw can be rough on concrete, asphalt, and other hardscaping materials. Walk around your property and inspect damage to walkways and driveways. Asphalt may be patched, but damaged concrete may need to be restored completely by a qualified technician.
Check Sprinklers and Irrigation Systems
Checking your sprinklers in the spring saves water – and your plants. Run systems through all the zones manually and make sure none of the heads are damaged. Adjust heads spraying the street, sidewalk, or porches to avoid water wastage. Call a professional for servicing your irrigation systems and you’ll save money on your water bill and preserve our valuable natural resources.
Re-Caulk and Seal Windows
Over time, caulking can dry out and become hard which will give you drafty windows that makes it difficult to chill your home during summers. Cold weather can also cause seals around windows and doors to loosen and crack. Poorly caulked windows leak water into your home once rains start. It does not take long to see if the caulk, seals, or trim needs to be resealed, repaired, or replaced. This is an easy but essential fix to help insulate your home.
Schedule Air Conditioning Service
A lot of homeowners ignore their air-conditioning right up until the very first hot day. Don’t be caught in the sweltering heat with a faulty cooling system. To get the best performance out of your cooling system, replace the filters at least once every season, and hire a licensed professional to service the equipment before the start of summer. This will help your A.C operate more efficiently during the warm months and even lower your electric bill.
Chimney Maintenance
After a rough winter and fluctuation in temperatures, your chimney may be worn out. Brick chimneys will need to have damaged mortar removed and have new mortar put in. This is called tuckpointing and can usually be accomplished by a local handyman or your maintenance company.
The above spring home maintenance tips are simple spring tips for homeowners on how to get started–as many of them involve close and careful inspections that often lead to other improvement and repair projects.
With more than 40 years of experience building and maintaining residential and commercial complexes in Massachusetts, Perry Brothers Construction knows what it takes to ensure your property is prepared for New England weather. Contact us today for more information or check out the rest of our blog to learn more home maintenance tips.
