Spring has finally sprung even after most us wondered if mother nature had completely forgotten about us in Ottawa. Winter is always too long and we always look forward to the few short months of glorious sun and heat. Let’s get started with a breakdown of what needs to get done around the home so that we can sit back and enjoy the spring and summer with no further work on the agenda.
Home Maintenance Checklist For Spring & Summer
As super exciting as it is when that first warm sun and heat arrives and our first intentions to get the spring cleaning started is with the usual window cleaning, pulling out the patio furniture and barbecues. Apart from them being awesome ideas to help us get started on the enjoyment of the summer to be, we still need to remember the important things to ensure our homes get the best TLC.
The following are tips on what you can do to check off all the boxes as done on your home maintenance checklist for this spring and summer.
- Get the garden hoses ready by re-attaching them to the outdoor water faucets. Remember to turn on the outdoor faucets from inside of your house. If you did your fall home maintenance they would have been turned off to protect pipes in your home from freezing.
- If you didn’t clean out the gutter, eaves troughs and water spouts in the fall, then make sure you do it now in the spring. There will be debris left behind from the fall leaves and while you are up there make sure to give the roof a once over look to make sure no damage was caused from any water backup due to the clogged arteries of the eavestroughing.
- Walk around the exterior of the house to make sure there is no damage like cracks to the foundation, or gaps that need to be sealed.
- Caulking the gaps on the exterior of the home is good maintenance practice and will give the seal you need to keep the little critters out.
- Take a look at the trees, shrubs and bushes on your property. If they are not damaged, just make sure you give them the proper cut back to give them the opportunity to grow and flourish through the spring and summer. Pruning them gives them a fresh start.
- When taking the walk around the outside of your property look for the signs of any damage to the roof, siding or foundation and if there are noticeable damages that require repairing consider getting those done first.
- This is also the perfect time to look at the exterior paint on your house. After a few harsh winter months perhaps the paint has begun to show signs of wear and needs to be refreshed. Spring is the perfect time to give the exterior of your house a fresh new look with paint.
- Painting your home exterior is good home maintenance. Contact a painter to see if any maintenance, repair or repainting is required.
- Replace any old, broken or ripped weatherstripping around the frames of the windows and doors. This is the perfect way to keep the heat and humidity out of the home, and make it more energy efficient.
- Prepare the air conditioner by removing the protective cover, consider a tune up or check up before turning it on, to ensure it will run properly once the hot humid days start. Calling in a Furnace and Air Conditioning company to ensure everything will run properly is a good idea as you do not want to be stuck when temperatures are soaring and the heat is unbearable.
- Give the fireplace a good cleaning. Remove any old remnants of ashes left behind from the cozy fires you enjoyed over the winter. If you have a gas fireplace they too should be included in the Furnace and Air conditioning maintenance check up. A good chimney cleaning ensures your safety and prevents a fire hazard for next years winter months.
- Check the batteries in your smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detectors.
Painting is the Ultimate Way to do Spring Cleaning
Since spring and summer gives us that feeling of re-energizing and that breath of fresh air and renewal, why not add painting the house to your to-do list.
When you consider painting the home in the spring it will free up your summer to enjoy the beauty of the fresh paint colours on the front door as well as the joyful gathering with friends and family. You will be able to sit back and admire the beauty of a great looking home.
Painting the house can really be considered as the ultimate spring cleaning when you think about it, since you will probably already be pulling furniture away from the walls, rolling up the carpet to give the home a deep clean, why not include getting it painted and it will feel like it’s a brand new house.
Add a splash of colour into the home after a long dreary winter by painting an accent wall. Scientific evidence shows that the psychology of colours affect our personality and can be a mood booster. Making painting the perfect reason to boost our mood by the simple change of colours in the living room, bedroom, or hallway entrance.
From the popular paint colours in every shade of blue, green and grays , changing the home decor is beneficial to our health as well as it being the perfect way to stage your home if you are putting it on the real estate market.
Traditionally spring is the perfect time to buy or sell a house. Painting it can increase the home’s value by 110% or more. If you are buying your first place then personalize it new paint colours.
Need more reasons on why painting can be the ultimate spring cleaning, here are a few more for both interior and exterior.
Five Reasons to Paint the Interior Of Your House
Other than the simple reasons of it changing up the entire home decor, it brings a new fresh look and adds a modern feel. Here are 5 more reasons why painting the interior of your house is the perfect way to start the spring and summer seasons.
- If it has been several years, perhaps a change is well overdue. Simply giving your space a fresh new coat of paint will bring back the lustre to your home and help maintain it’s beauty.
- With all the other spring and summer chores to do, painting the interior adds that extra fresh and clean look and feel to the home.
- If listing the house for sale, the real-estate agent may advise you to paint the house in neutral colours to stage it so that it appeals to the new buyers and help to get it sold faster.
- If your moving into to your new place, then having it professionally painted before moving in gives you a few years of maintenance free living, and one less thing to do before moving in.
- Free up your time before the busy of summer begins with the gatherings of friends and family for lazy hazy days of bbq’s and conversations. Now is a great time to schedule to get your house painted.
Five Reasons To Paint The Exterior Of Your House
Getting the exterior painting done in advance gives you the opportunity to enjoy the rest of the summer and be the envy of the neighborhood. There’s no time like April, May and June to get started on the exterior painting of your home. If Ottawa weather permits April and May are great months to get it done in advance of our short summers. Here are few reasons why we feel it is important.
- There is no better time than April, May and June to get started on the painting of the exterior. It’s the perfect weather for the paint as well as the painters.
- Paint adheres better, lasts longer and the painter doesn’t have to work in the extreme heat and humidity. It is safer for everyone to be painting in cooler temperatures.
- There are less paint problems when painting in ideal temperatures of the spring. Summers can be to hot and humid.
- Painting the exterior of your home in the Spring will increase your home’s resale value and add curb appeal.
- Impress everyone including the neighbors with fresh coat of exterior paint to the front door, garage and windows.
By scheduling your exterior house painting services early you will have more time to sit back and enjoy the lazy days of summer, especially since our Canadian summers are too short to begin with.
Make the time now to get an estimate before the busy months of summer begin. When Summer finally does arrive you will be the happiest homeowner on the block, since all your spring cleaning chores are done.
With all there is to do to get our homes ready for the summer we hope this list has provided you with a few ideas and tips on what you need to check off that list. Learn more on our blog.
Don’t forget to enjoy some beautiful walks and bike rides around Dow’s Lake, Hog’s Back, Rockcliffe Park, and all the other beautiful things to do in Ottawa. Take advantage of every hour as the warm sunny days are to short.
Be ready for Spring and Summer book an estimate.
This post was originially published on Apr 25, 2018 and edited on Apr 16, 2020
