Once the cold and long winter months are over, evaluate your home’s condition and check for signs of damage. The winter season can be brutal on a home’s foundation as the snow, and low temperatures can cause extensive damage to the exterior walls, rooftop, and windows.
Being a homeowner isn’t a bed of roses, as there is quite a bit of responsibility on your shoulders for maintaining your home. Spring home maintenance isn’t that difficult if you know what you’re doing, and we’re sharing the best tips for springtime maintenance for homeowners. Here, these tips will ensure that all bases are covered. Here’s what you should do:
Inspect Your Home’s Exterior First:
The first thing you must do for springtime maintenance is to inspect the exterior walls of your home. All you need to do is walk around the outer edges of your property and look for signs of damage that may look severe. That will ensure you’re not dealing with expensive repairs if the damage gets worse:
1. The Roof
You can usually identify any issues with your home’s roof without taking out the step ladder and getting up on the roof. All you need to do is look for any missing or cracked shingles, as stronger winds can easily cause the roof shingles to start curling and lift. It weakens the bond between your roof and the shingles, resulting in roof replacement if you don’t identify the problem soon.
2. Gutters
If you’re not cleaning your gutters, water won’t drain properly from your roof. There may be debris blocking the proper path of the water drainage system and causing water pooling on the roof. That’s the last thing you want before the summer months arrive and bring severe thunderstorms with them. You must also check if water is draining away properly from the downspout, or else it can result in your basement flooding completely.
3. Yard
It’s vital to check your yard for signs of damage because if the surrounding areas are lower than the ground, your yard may start to flood. The water will then start collecting and pooling in one location whenever it starts raining. There’s a simple fix to this solution, as you can take compacted soil and add them to all the low-lying areas.
You may want to deal with this before the summer because all these water puddles and pools in your yard will become the ideal breeding ground for insects. If you’re not a fan of mosquitos, you don’t want stagnant or standing water in your backyard or around your home.
4. Chimney
Have you noticed any missing or loose bricks? Sweep your chimney to ensure that there aren’t any dust or allergens stuck inside the walls. Hay fever can become an epidemic during springtime, and if you’re allergic to dust or have other allergies, it’s best to get your chimney swept, repaired, and cleaned before springtime.
5. Air Conditioning
You should contact an HVAC specialist to service and tune-up your air conditioning system well before summer. Getting the coils cleaned for your system will mean you get lower energy costs and better efficiency. You should get regular maintenance for any problem areas that can be addressed and ensure you don’t have any problems with your air conditioning during summer.
Inspecting Your Home’s Interior:
Once you’re done with the exterior of your home, it’s time to get to the interior. You should check the interior and ensure that nothing is damaged to have a stress-free springtime. Here are all the things that you must maintain in your home’s interior:
1. Air Filter
Your home’s heating system will undergo intense use during the winter, but springtime is the best season to get your home’s air filtration system checked. A dirty air filter can drastically enhance the allergens inside your house, impacting your home’s air quality indoors.
2. Attic
You want to ensure that there aren’t any common pests or insects such as mice in the attic. These critters are always looking for warmth, and once they find these perfect conditions in your home, you can expect that they will start building nests and reproducing like crazy.
Another concern is mold growth, as having perfect insulation in your attic will ensure optimal airflow, which prevents mold growth during the summer months.
3. Plumbing
Do you have leaking faucets? It’s time you get them fixed before spring because it’s similar to flushing your money down the toilet. Therefore, if your faucets are leaking, you’re wasting thousands of gallons of water every year. For this reason, you must check your pipes, dryers, clogged drains, and washer.
4. Humidifier
Don’t forget to turn down the settings for your humidifier or shut it down because you don’t want the air conditioning to run with the humidifier. It decreases the efficiency of your HVAC unit because the air inside your house will take longer to cool if the humidifier is turned on.
Conclusion
Springtime may be only be a few months away, but it’s time to get your act together and ensure that there are no issues with your home maintenance. The winter months have almost bid farewell, and it’s best to get your ventilation, plumbing, and air conditioning checked, repaired, and serviced. These springtime maintenance tips will ensure that you have peace of mind for the rest of the year as a homeowner.
At e-Finance Mortgage LLC, we aim to educate our readers about the different ways they can improve their home values along with taking care of their mortgage needs. From FHA loans to conventional financing programs, we’ve got you covered. Feel free to contact us for more information!