Essential Home Maintenance Tasks to Tackle

Essential Home Maintenance Tasks to Tackle in Spring

Spring is typically the season when people deep clean, declutter, and otherwise banish the dreary feelings of winter from their homes. Aside from cleaning, there are numerous home maintenance tasks that need to be done after those bitter winter temperatures subside. Fortunately, this is a great excuse to get outside and enjoy the sunshine! Here are some key maintenance areas to focus on.

Evaluate and Repair Drainage Issues

One of the first tasks on your spring maintenance checklist should be tending to your roof. Snow or ice may have caused damage during the past few months, so check your attic for water damage and pay careful attention to the area around your chimney and ventilation pipes. Then, head outside and check for problems on the roof’s surface. Buckled or raised shingles may just need to be pressed and sealed instead of replaced completely. You’ll need proper tools to get the job done efficiently. For example, a good hammer will help you remove roof nails so you can replace broken shingles.

This is also an excellent time to check your gutters and downspouts. Once you’ve removed leaves and other debris, run a hose on your roof to ensure everything is draining properly. Caulking or epoxy can be used to seal leaks in gutters.

Clean Up Siding

Next, turn your attention to your home’s siding. According to Houselogic, siding can last over 50 years with proper maintenance. Every spring, inspect your siding for damage and repair any cracked caulking, peeling paint, or crumbling mortar. Then, give it a power wash or scrub it down by hand — the latter is more time consuming but gentler on your home. While you’re tending to your home’s exterior, check for cracks in the foundation as well.

Tend to Your Landscaping

Your house isn’t the only thing that needs regular maintenance. After winter, your yard might look pretty bleak. Start your maintenance by checking the health of any trees on your property since damaged or decaying trees can become serious safety hazards. Use this guide from Tree Inspection for help spotting problems.

Another important landscaping task is checking the drainage of your yard. It’s crucial that water drains away from your home to prevent water damage, flooding issues, and insect problems. Make sure the ground slopes away from your house. If it doesn’t, build up compacted soil around your foundation to create a slope.

Lawn care and flower bed maintenance will improve your home on a more cosmetic level. Lawn care is especially important in spring when the grass starts growing again. You may also want to repair cracks in your sidewalks or pathways to improve appearance and prevent people from tripping. Small cracks can be filled with some concrete crack filler.

Take Care of Your HVAC System

Spring is also an excellent time to do some simple HVAC maintenance. But before you head inside, clean your AC unit. Dirt and debris around your unit can cause it to work harder, using more energy and shortening the life of the system. While most professionals will do this as part of a regular AC tune-up, you can follow these steps by Service Champions to do it yourself.

Moving inside, clean any reachable air ducts and vents to remove the buildup of dust from over winter. Once everything is spic and span, replace your HVAC air filter. A dirty filter is not effective at removing allergens and pollutants from the air,and can even affect the longevity of your HVAC system. If you have pets, it’s a smart idea to change your filter every month. At the very least, homeowners should change their filters twice a year.

Regular spring maintenance will get your home in tip-top shape for summer. Don’t let undetected leaks, mold, or damage from winter wreak havoc on the health of your home. Choose a beautiful sunny day, enlist the help of your family members, and bask in the fulfillment of tackling these home maintenance tasks yourself!

Bret Engle | DiyGuys.net
bret.engle@diyguys.net