Spring Home Maintenance

Spring is here, and as the weather improves, you may want to take the opportunity to get a little home maintenance done. To ensure that your home is in great shape for the summer, here are a few tips for spring home maintenance.

Clean Your Gutters

Many homeowners do not realize how important their gutters are for protecting their home. Your gutters channel the water that comes down the roof and directs it away from the home. Keeping this water away from the home is important for protecting your foundation, and it is good for protecting a range of other components like the fascia, the window frames and more.

When the weather gets nice, it is a good idea to get out a ladder and remove all of the leaves and debris that have built up over the fall and winter. This will ensure that your gutters do not get clogged and overflow. As an additional point, you will also want to inspect the gutters and downspouts for damage while you are up there. Look for signs of leaks, corrosion or components that may be starting to fail.

Inspect Your Roof

Spring is also the ideal time to inspect your roof. By taking the time to inspect the roof, you give yourself the opportunity to catch any minor problems before they cause serious damage to your home. If you catch a problem early, you can prevent costly repairs, and it can protect the home from things like water damage that may come with a roof leak.

It can be a good idea to inspect the roof when you are already up on the ladder cleaning your gutters, but you can also inspect it from the ground. If you have a pair of binoculars, you could look for things like missing shingles or shingles that are starting to crack or deteriorate. Beyond looking at the exterior of the roof, you may also want to go into the attic to look for signs of a leak.

Windows

After the fall and winter, your windows could probably use a good spring cleaning. Regular window cleaning is not only good for making sure that your windows look good and that the glass in nice and clear, it also helps to ensure a long life for the windows.

Go around to every window and clean the interiors and the exteriors. If you have some windows that are high up or hard to reach, then you may need to get a ladder to do this job. While you are paying attention to the windows, you may also want to clean the screens and check the frames for any damage or leaking.

Check Your Foundation

Now that the weather is starting to get nice, you should also take the time to inspect your foundation for any signs of trouble. Giving your foundation a yearly inspection is a good idea to prevent any damage, and it can help to ensure that you catch any small problems before they get out of hand.

While there are several things that you could look for, the main point to consider in this inspection is foundation cracks. If you find any cracks in the foundation, then you may need to call in a repair service. If you get the repairs done right away, it will limit the damage and it could save you money in the long run.

Air Conditioner Maintenance

It is not going to be long before you find the need to start turning on the air conditioner. With summer right around the corner, you want to make sure that your air conditioner is ready to handle the load, and that it is running to its optimal efficiency.

You do have some basic maintenance steps that you could perform on your own. You need to clean or change the filter. Go to the outdoor unit to make sure that it is not covered by leaves and other debris, and you want to look for any bushes or objects that might be obstructing the airflow from the unit.

Since the air conditioner is getting ready to go into heavy use, you may also want to call in a professional to perform a thorough cleaning and inspection. This is just a good preventative step to ensure that everything is working as it should, and that the machine is performing as good as it can.

Masonry

Once the winter is done, it is a good idea to take a look at all of the masonry work on your property. If you find any damage, getting to it early will make the repairs easier, and in many cases, it could be repairs that you could do on your own.

As a start, you are going to want to look at things like the driveway, and masonry paths and walkways and if you gave a patio, you are going to want to take a look at that too. Look for things like cracks, check to make sure that the surfaces are still level and look for things like vegetation growing up through seams and cracks. If you have brick chimney, you are also going to want to give that some attention. Inspect the seams between the bricks for corrosion and look for things like missing or damaged bricks.

Your spring cleaning and home maintenance can involve quite a bit of work, but it is a worthwhile investment of your time. By putting this work in, you are taking steps to ensure the safety of your home, and you are doing what you can to protect the value of the property.

As you go through your spring home maintenance checklist, there is a possibility that you will find repairs that need to be done. At Montclair Construction, we have been building, repairing and renovating homes in San Francisco for more than 30 years. From the roof all the way down to the foundation, we are the team to call if you need any home repairs this spring.

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