10 Vital Home Maintenance Tasks You’ll Regret If You Forget This Spring
Vital Home Maintenance Tasks
You’ve hunkered down in your closed up house all winter, and now it’s time to get out and tackle a few much-needed home maintenance projects. Whether your idea of DIY is watching HGTV, or you’re on a first-name basis with all guys at the big box home improvement stores in town, keeping up with these projects is vital.
Just like ignoring the oil light on your dashboard or pretending that a suspicious health issue will just go away on its own, neglecting some home maintenance projects can end up causing far more damage in the long run.
Of course, if you’re not comfortable with tackling some of the more challenging items or if you have physical limitations, it’s okay to delegate. In some cases, it’s best to hire a qualified professional.
Here are 10 spring home maintenance tips that will help you prevent expensive damage to your home, and possibly even save your life.
You can even burn an average of 200 to 300 calories per hour doing many home maintenance projects. You won’t regret it. This is just a bonus to saving money by doing all of these things yourself.
Don’t let the spring weather ruin your home.
Roof Issues
roof-damage
Inspect your roof for missing or damaged shingles, and de-gunk your rain gutters and downspouts.
Leaves, dirt, and other debris from clogs that prevent rainwater from draining away from your roof.
When this happens, the trapped water can seep into your home and cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.
The standing water also attracts mosquitoes and wood destroying carpenter ants.
Critter Zones
critter-holes
Check for cracks and other critter comfort zones. This home maintenance project is easy but a bit time consuming.
Look around the interior and exterior of your house and check for cracks, water leaks, holes, debris, etc. where pests (not your kids’ weird fridge-raiding friends) can access your home.
Check window sills and frames for condensation and peeling paint, which exposes wood to dry rot.
Check for evidence of rodents, bats, roaches, termites and other destructive and disease carrying critters and repair the damaged areas.
Then spray for pests or hire a pest control company to do it for you.
Spring Clean Your Storage Areas
Spring Clean Your Storage Areas
Go through your refrigerator, freezer and cupboards and get rid of expired food.
Wipe the crumbs out of the cupboards and sanitize your refrigerator. Also, remove expired prescriptions, over-the-counter remedies and vitamins from your medicine cabinets.
Check with your local waste management authority and find out if they have certain regulations for disposal of medications.
Lint Build Up
Lint Build Up
Corral those lint bunnies. Those deceptively harmless looking little fluffs love to snuggle down in your dryer vents and lint traps.
Before you know it, they multiply like, well, rabbits. Dryer lint is extremely flammable if you let it build up in the vents.
You can hire someone to do this for you, or you can do it yourself and buy a vacuum attachment made specifically for cleaning out dryer vents.
Clean The Refrigerator Condenser Coils
Clean The Refrigerator Condenser Coils
Maintain your refrigerator. Clean the condenser coils on your refrigerator with a vacuum attachment and a flexible coil cleaning brush (make sure you unplug it while you’re cleaning the coils, to avoid getting shocked).
Also, check the temperature of your refrigerator and freezer with a quality thermometer.
The safe food temperature zone for a refrigerator is below 40 degrees Fahrenheit and below 0 degrees Fahrenheit in the freezer.
Fireplace or Wood Stove Care
Fireplace or Wood Stove Care
Have your wood burning stove or fireplace inspected for damage and creosote buildup.
There are three levels of creosote buildup. First-degree creosote is ashy and easily removed with a chimney brush.
Second and third degree creosote are extremely flammable and best removed by a professional chimney specialist.
De-Clutter the Yard
De-Clutter the Yard
Remove fallen branches, leaves, and pine needles. Trim tree branches so that they don’t hang over or touch any part of the house.
Make sure there’s no standing water that attracts mosquitoes. Check for proper drainage to make sure that water flows away from the house.
Clear away dead plants and any other debris from side of house that can attract pests, damages the siding, or is a fire hazard.
Check Wooden Surfaces
Check Wooden Surfaces
Check the decks and other wood surfaces. Inspect outside stairs, decks, railings, porches, etc. for damage, including dry rot, peeling paint, wood-boring insects, and hazardous loose boards.
Replace damaged wood; apply touch up paint and sealant.
Check All Battery operated safety Devices
Check All Battery operated safety Devices
Test the batteries in all smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Replace dead batteries.
If you have propane, consider buying a combination carbon monoxide/gas/smoke detector that also detects propane leaks.
Change ALL Air Filters
Change ALL Air Filters
Replace the air filter(s) in your HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system, to keep it running more efficiently.
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Simple DIY Hacks To Help You Improve Your Home
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