With spring almost coming to an end, it’s time to start thinking about how to make the most of what’s left of the beautiful season. Warm weather, blooming gardens, and clear skies inspire us to make the most of our homes and enjoy the outdoors. You don’t have to make drastic changes to your home to enjoy the spring sunshine. Simple, cost-efficient changes to make your patio, garden, living room, and all other parts of your home more comfortable are completely doable. You just have to know where to look. Don’t let the arrival of fall hamper your plans for sprucing up your home! Here are 10 spring home maintenance tips to follow if you’re thinking about doing some renovations to end the season right. Jot them down, do some research, set up a budget, and enjoy all your home has to offer this spring.
1. Replace Your Old Windows and Doors
One of the most overlooked, yet easiest and best spring home maintenance tips to follow is upgrading windows and doors. Windows and doors age over time, and even though you might clean them over and over and think they last forever, the average lifespan of windows is only about 20 years. Chances are, if your home is more modern and you spend lots of time on your patio, you have a sliding door to move in and out from. Unfortunately, though beautiful, sliding and french doors only last 20 years as well.
If your home is older than this, and you haven’t replaced your windows or sliding doors in those two decades, it might be time to consider changes to your home. Both windows and doors are an integral part of a home’s design, and changing them can be as easy as making a call to a one-stop windows and doors manufacturer. With so many different styles, upgrading your patio doors and windows can even be beautiful, refreshing, and also cost-efficient. Letting in more lighting and heat can save you money on energy costs by preventing foggy, limited lighting, breezes, and even prevent burglaries by choosing reinforced designs.
2. Set Up Outside Patio Lights
We all know that spring and summer nights hold some of the best times, memories, and conversations in our lives. Why not have those conversations in your own home, on your own patio? One of the easiest, and most unique spring home maintenance tips to follow to enjoy the night-time, is considering setting up patio lighting. Patio lighting works to create a dim mood and relaxing ambiance. Talk with your friends under the lights, while enjoying cool drinks and reminiscing over the day. Trendy designs, such as patio string lights, icicle lights, and even mini patio lights are available everywhere you look.
You can find a plethora of do-it-yourself, or DIY projects and spring home maintenance tips online to set up lighting, but if you want to get more options, consider reaching out to outdoor lighting services. They can help you set up more permanent landscaping lighting designs, as well as security lighting in addition to patio lighting.
3. Buy Affordable Plants and Upgrade Greenery
Depending on where you live, the springtime provides the perfect weather and opportunity to improve the look of your home’s greenery. This can include planting flowers, hedges, cacti, and even re-doing your lawn. Whatever you choose to do that falls in your budget, remember that the springtime is one of the best times to start planting and growing your own garden, or even sprucing up your home’s surrounding greenery, as a variety of plants are blooming and available. Though simple tree and shrub trimming can give your home a quick makeover, affordable plants can make a great addition to any home. What’s more, plants that are well-maintained can serve to give your home that spring-blossom look year after year. With so many varieties to choose from, your home can look beautiful, lively, and unique this spring.
Don’t forget to consider both outdoor, and indoor plants as well. Any home that has greenery inside appears fresher, more welcoming, and relaxing. As mentioned before, cacti are a great, easy-to-maintain plant for both indoors and outdoors. Aloe vera, succulents, and other varieties are trendy and can be arranged in beautiful, modern designs.
4. Re-organize Your Garage
The garage doesn’t have to be simply a place to store your junk. Springtime means excellent weather, time off from school and work, and family vacations. Chances are if you’re part of the millions of Americans that participate in outdoor activities, your garage is full of the family’s bikes, boogie boards, baseball bats, you name it. There’s no shame in a messy garage, as it comes with an active lifestyle and taking part of all that spring has to offer! Outdoor activities allow you to socialize with friends and family, while also getting exercise, but they can also leave your garage aching for repairs and reorganization.
Some spring home maintenance tips you should consider are re-organizing your garage, making space (and money) by hosting a garage sale, or even looking at fixing issues with your equipment paradise. For instance, many homes are in desperate need of garage door spring repair and replacement, and some might benefit from extra shelving to maximize space. Stick-on lighting to brighten your work area, asphalt repair leading towards the garage, and even updating security to keep your garage like locks are all great ideas. Whatever the case is, take the time this spring to look at affordable shelving, re-organizing, and maintenance for your garage.
5. Consider Roof Repairs
Don’t be fooled by the blooming flowers, warm sunshine, and allergies: spring can get very, very wet. The saying “April showers bring May flowers” is there for a reason. Spring can bring lots of rain early on in the year. Particularly in the northern hemisphere, spring showers can take many homeowners by surprise. Don’t ignore essential spring home maintenance tips, and fix your roof early on to avoid getting caught in the spring downpour.
It’s always best to contact several roofers in your area in order to get the best quote. Affordable roofing is very much possible, and even more so if your problem is in a smaller area. For instance, upgrading your entire roof and maximizing heating and cooling costs should be done by a professional. But if you’re on a budget, simple leaky roof repairs can be done for a lower cost and even as a DIY project. Remember to always consult the help of a professional, follow safety protocols, and research on what the best option for your budget is.
6. Prepare for the Heat
Now that we’ve discussed spring showers and warm sunshine, let’s talk about what many in the Southwestern United States face during the springtime: unbearable heat. Temperatures can reach up to 98 degrees Fahrenheit in some states such as California during the springtime on a regular basis, so it’s important to consider what the season will bring to your specific area, and how to prepare.
Invest in upgraded AC installation by choosing Energy Star certified systems that have high Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratios (SEER) and Energy Efficiency Ratios (EER). These certifications can help you save money during the heat, as well as help you go green. In addition, water usage can go up during the hot weather, so choosing energy-efficient, low-flow shower-heads and sink faucets can also help. If you’re in an apartment that heats up easily, not to worry. Many times these low-flow add-ons are portable, as are ac units that can easily be set up and cool down your apartment.
7. Clean Out Your Gutters
After a long, wet winter, it’s important to follow even the most tedious of spring home maintenance tips. For some, this might mean doing some much-needed cleaning of the gutters. Clogged gutters can lead to improper drainage, which can lead to foundation damage, landscape damage, and, in some colder climates, pooled up water that freezes and creates dangerous ice dams. Ensure your drain spouts are leading water away from your home instead of leaking into your basement and foundation. If you’re worried about performing this act yourself, you can always hire a professional. After all, there may be some debris in your gutter that results in the need for emergency care. Leave the hard work to the pros if you’re concerned. Though it might seem tedious, making sure that your gutters are firm, leak-free, and free of debris can end up saving you money in the long run.
8. Spruce Up Your Outdoor Furniture
Following spring home maintenance tips doesn’t have to be boring or daunting, like cleaning out gutters and replacing ac units. In fact, even small changes to your home can make a world of difference. Take outdoor furniture! As we mentioned before, enjoying time in your patio can help you build fond memories and enjoy the springtime even more. Outdoor furniture is available even at discount retailers like Big Lots, and different designs work for different homes. Adding simple touches such as floral design pillows, throws, cushions, and even retouching paint can make your patio look revitalized. Some designs even come with built-in awnings, wicker designs, and more.
9. Prepare for the Spring Swarming Termites
The springtime is swarming season for harmful winged and subterranean termites that can attack your dry-wood, eat at your foundation, and cost you money if left untreated. Some signs that termites are beginning to infest your property are seeing the winged insect in your yard, finding mud tubes that the termites have colonized in leading into your home, and seeing blistering wood on your floorboards. Contact your local pest control to get information and services on getting rid of these termites, and other pests that can invade your home. Then, do your best to prevent the invasion of these creatures, such as sealing gaps around water and gas lines, and keeping your crawlspace and basement dry among other things.
10. Check Your Irrigation Systems
Some spring home maintenance tips should be combined with previous winter maintenance tips as well. For example, after the freezing temperatures of winter, it’s important to check and make sure your irrigation systems have not been damaged by the cold, harsh weather. Unfortunately, if you didn’t take the time to winterize your irrigation pipeline before winter, you are most definitely at risk of a snapped and damaged pipes at temperatures of 32 degrees Fahrenheit and below. Hire a certified irrigation system contractor as soon as possible to get your irrigation pipes up and running again once it is safe to do so.
Next time, make sure to take the proper steps to winterize your sprinkler system before temperatures drop if you live within a harsh winter climate.
In addition, you might be eager to water your springtime plants as soon as the snow clears. However, doing so without first checking for damage and proper calibration of your irrigation systems can prove costly on your next water bill. Re-calibrate your irrigation systems to make sure they are pointed away from your home and not causing unnecessary moisture to seep into your home. As mentioned before, extra moisture can lead to termites and a damaged foundation. In addition, re-calibrating your irrigation systems ensure that water is going only towards your lawn and plants, and not unnecessarily all over the sidewalk.
Spring Awaits
Have fun following whatever spring home maintenance tips you want to this season. The spring provides the perfect weather to do work outside, and take-up new gardening projects, do-it-yourself projects, and even as mentioned earlier, outdoor activities. Taking the time to refresh your greenery, spruce up your furniture, and setting up your dream patio can all be fun and rewarding. However, it’s important to not ignore the maintenance tips that can seem overwhelming and even unnecessary. Once you have a home, maintaining a dry foundation, cleaning your gutters, fixing your roofing, and even contacting pest control are all necessary to prevent devastating problems later on.
For more spring home maintenance tips not mentioned here, call a local professional to help point out problems in your own home. Additional repairs to consider might be replacing your HVAC filters, checking your window and door screens if you live in a mosquito prone area, fixing up your fencing and outdoor paint, and so on. Take advantage of the beautiful spring season, and get to work right away.
