Your spring home maintenance checklist

Check out your roofs surface flashing, eaves, and soffits and look for missing or damaged pieces of flashing around all surface projections and sidewalls. Damaged or missing pieces could allow rain and other elements to cause damage to your home. Go inside with a flashlight and look at your attic. Look for any staining or discoloration, which can be signs of leaking or mold growth. Make sure debris isn’t blocking your vents and attic fan.

Remove all leaves and debris from gutters and downspouts and reattach any gutters that have pulled away from the house. If there is damage small enough to repair, dry the area and use caulking or epoxy to seal holes and stop leaks. Downspouts should drain 6 feet from your home to prevent damage to the foundation.

Clean siding, decks, porches, and fences with a pressure washer to keep mold from growing. Check all wood surfaces, and if the wood is showing through, sand the area and apply a primer coat before painting. If the paint is peeling, scrape loose paint and sand smooth before painting or staining. Decks and wood fences need to be treated every 4-6 years, depending on how much exposure they get to sun and rain. Check for loose, damaged, or rotted boards, especially on stairs and railings. Tighten down or replace boards depending on the level of damage.

For windows, doors and other trim pieces, check out the state of the caulking and replace if it’s deteriorating by scraping and re-caulking the needed area. Check for any damaged or rotted wood and reseal or replace if necessary. While working with your windows and doors, check out the screens to ensure that they are free of holes and repair or replace as needed. Don’t forget the screens for your crawlspace, if you have one!

Check your foundation walls, floors, concrete, and masonry for cracking, heaving, or deterioration. If you find damaged or loose bricks, or a crack in your concrete floor, slab or foundation large enough to fit a coin in, call a professional immediately. Check around the foundation of your home for pooling water or in your crawl space for organic growth, which may be signs of improper drainage. Check to make sure the soil slopes away from foundation walls at least six vertical inches over 10 feet. That’ll move rain and snowmelt far enough away to prevent problems.

Look at your lawn sprinkler system for rusted or leaking valves and improperly working sprinkler heads. Run your sprinkler system and monitor any water pooling or dry areas and adjust your system for the best coverage possible. If pooling continues, there may be drainage issues or there could be a leak underground in your system and further maintenance may be needed.

Freezing and thawing are rough on concrete, asphalt and other hardscaping materials. Walk around your property to look for damage to walkways, paths, and driveways. Asphalt can often be patched, but damaged concrete may need to be replaced entirely.

Faucets and hoses can be damaged by the cold weather. Turn the water on and cover the opening with your hand. If you can stop the flow of water, it is likely the pipe inside the home is damaged and will need to be replaced. Check your garden hoses for dry rot.

Beginning in March and going through May or June, be on the lookout for termites. Keep an eye out for wood damage, mud tubes, and dead termites. (If you are interested in having a professional come and inspect and treat your home for termites and other wood-destroying insects, call our office and we would be happy to schedule that for you!)

It’s also a great time to change out your HVAC filter and make sure your system is running correctly before it gets hot!