5 Spring Home Maintenance Tips

24 Feb 5 Spring Home Maintenance Tips

With Spring Comes Spring Maintenance Honey-Do’s

The throes of winter are almost a thing of the past!  Spring will arrive across the Kansas City Metro in just a few weeks.  And with it will Spring cleaning, gardens, and honey-dos for the outside of your home.  Even if your better half isn’t harping about the exterior condition of your home, here are five home Spring home maintenance ideas you’ll want to consider as soon as you can get outside in shorts and a sweatshirt:

1) Use a screwdriver or flat iron to probe around the wood trim of your doors, railings, windows, and decks. Are you feeling soft spots? It’s the first sign of wood rot. Repair the exposed wood as soon as possible, before the coming spring rain damages it.  Minor repairs now save extensive repairs later!

2) Check those gutters! Did you know a full 20-foot gutter can weigh up to 300 lbs? After a harsh winter, most gutters and downspouts are jammed with more ice and debris than people realize. Gutters are designed to shield your roof and home from water, but they have no purpose whatsoever when full of limbs and sediment. Clogged gutters can lead to wet basements, washed-out landscapes, and costly wood rot repairs.

3) Remove all the leftover firewood stored near your back door. Firewood should be stored at least 18 inches off the ground at least 2 feet from your home.  Why?  Because all winter’s nastiness stays on the wood, it will rot away wooden panels over time.  It can even get mold inside of the siding.  So make sure it’s relocated when not in use for the next 7 or 8 months.

4) Check the condition of your drive, patio, and foundation.  Pay attention to your concrete slabs for signs of cracks, which can mean that movement has occurred.  All exterior slabs except pool decks should drain away from a home’s foundation. Suppose you don’t invest in soil and create the desired draining effect.  Fill cracks with a high-grade crack filler or professional silicone caulk. Once dry, you can power wash the surface and clean it for good measure. This is important, as spring rains can cause severe yard flooding, leading to foundation flooding, as well as the swarms of mosquitos and other nasty bugs that breed in the pools left over in these shallow areas.

5) Finally, check for cracked, weathered, or chipped paint.  Paint is the first line of defense from the elements, and when it starts to go, it’s not long before wood rot and other damage will trail behind.  Spring is the perfect time to repaint your house.  Nothing breathes new life into a home like a fresh garden and a matching fresh coat of paint!

For All You Over-Achievers Out There

This covers the major items, but if you want to go all out…it’s a good time to change your furnace filter, clean out your outside AC unit, sweep out your chimney flue, and do a quick maintenance check for all your lawn and garden care equipment.  The first days of spring are a great time to oversee your lawn (get it down well before any  heavy rains, so you haven’t wasted your time in the end!)

Get Professional Help (For Your Home)

If you did all the above and found a few items you need professional assistance with, please call us!  We aren’t just one of the top-rated exterior painters in Kansas City; we’re also trained wood rot repair and fascia board replacement specialists.  We have a team of pros who repair and install siding.  And, to top it off, we repair and stain the finest decks you’ll find in Jackson and Johnson County!  Please fill out the form on the Contact Us page or pick up the phone and call today.  The home of your dreams is just a call or click away…