Homeowner Care How-To’s: Spring Forward to Spring Maintenance
With the warmer weather now chasing away the winter blues, the time has come to pretty up your home for the spring and summer. Just like a good, even tan, your home needs some care and preparation in order to look stunning.
Consider the following activities on those few remaining cold rainy days:
1. Seal It – As you clean the inside of your windows (leave the outside for your property management and professionals), check to ensure that the caulking and operation of the windows is functioning as intended. Cracked caulking will affect the temperature of the home. It’s also a good idea to check the doors as well to ensure that they are working properly.
2. Test It – As we previously talked about in Homeowner Care How-To’s: Changing Your Smoke Detector Battery, it is important to vacuum and clean the smoke detectors around your house to ensure that dust or other airborne particles are not affecting the smoke alarm’s ability to detect smoke. You may also want to take this opportunity to change the batteries as well.
3. Filter It – Clean and replace the filters for your heating and cooling systems. Also clean and check the bathroom fans and your range hood filter to ensure that it is operating smoothly. Dust build up can impede the operation of your fans and filters. Remember that it is important to run the bathroom fan timers for two 4-hour cycles daily to dry out the air ducts and reduce condensation.
4. Embrace the Outdoors – Now that the days are getting longer and drier, patio living can be enjoyed once again. But before the barbeques and lounge chairs come out, remember to inspect your patio floor and railings for any damage sustained during the winter. If you have wooden decks, be sure that you perform basic maintenance to keep the floorboards from wearing out prematurely.
It is important to remember that proper maintenance and care of your home will not only prolong its life and keep it looking beautiful for years to come, but it is also a requirement of your New Home Warranty.