Creative Home Tips for your Spring and Summer Home

Homeowners typically take the proper steps to ensure that their home is ready for fall and winter. However, with spring rains and warmer temperatures, there’s no better way to transition into the upcoming season than with the following home maintenance tips.

Creative Home Tips for your Spring and Summer Home

Image via: Home Ideas

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Curb Appeal

No Matter if you’re cleaning up your home after a harsh winter or preparing it to be put on the market to sell, you want to jazz up its curb appeal. You can begin by placing your focus on your lawn and landscape. Fertilizer, aeration and a good first mowing can improve a lawn that has been left dormant all winter season. You can also mulch your flower beds and cut back shrubs, bushes and perennials. This is also the ideal time to prune trees and cut away dead branches. You can also take a look at the exterior of your dwelling and assess its condition. Repaint areas on your home that have cracks or peeling paint such as wood trim, mailboxes and cedar siding. Decks should also be reinforced, stained and new boards replaced if they’ve become worn or dilapidated. If you driveway is asphalt, spring/summer is the perfect time for it to be seal coated.

Sump Pump

Spring rains can be brutal to your home and basement. Before Mother Nature unleashes her fury, you want to have a licensed and experienced plumber check out your sump pump to make sure that it’s running properly. If you need a new one, spring is the best time of year to have a new one installed. Back up sump pumps can also aid homeowners in case the first one fails during a torrential downpour.

Heating and Air-Conditioning

Your furnace and air-conditioner can take a beating during the winter and summer months. Before it’s time to turn on the air for the season, you want to enlist the help of a qualified contractor to give the air-condition unit a thorough tune-up. Smooth running units can lengthen the age of the unit and ensure that it runs efficiently throughout the season.

Clean Out Gutters

Leaves, branches, dirt and other debris can litter your gutters during the winter months. Before the spring rains begin to fall, it’s important to clean them thoroughly. Since improper drainage can drench your basement or crawl space, the early months of the season are the best time to assess for leaky or loose gutters.

Image via: Boston Homes

Seal Doors and Windows

One of the most common problems a homeowner may face is a loss of energy due to poorly sealed doors and windows. If you don’t want to cool the entire neighborhood this summer, and you want to keep your energy costs to a minimum, you can prepare your home for the months ahead by re-sealing your doors and windows.

Roof Shingles

High winds, sun, snow, sleet and rain can wreak havoc with your roof. A licensed contractor can assess the condition of your roof before the summer months. Loose, cracked or missing shingles should be repaired, especially if you live in an unusually rainy climate. Flashing located around skylights, plumbing vents and chimneys should also be checked. For those with a cedar shake style roof, you may want to have your roof cleaned, maintained and treated.

Image via: Artis Construction

Check Your Home’s Foundation

Winter rains and snow can wash away dirt and cause the foundation to crack. The start of the spring and summer months is the perfect time for you to walk around your dwelling and assess the foundation. Areas that are low or missing soil should be filled in with dirt and compacted securely. If you find cracks, a licensed contractor can fill and seal them, so you don’t have to worry about any incoming moisture.

For more outdoor home ideas this season, take a look here on Stagetecture.