Seasonal Home Maintenance – Home Maintenance Tips For All Seasons
As the seasons change different tasks for home maintenance become apparent. Seasonal home maintenance is a must to help us traverse through different seasons without a catastrophe. Unclogging the drains before the rains saves us from water logging on the roofs, keeping the vents cleans helps keep the air flowing for heating and cooling and so on. These seasonal tasks take on more importance in different types of the year and so a seasonal checklists helps a lot to keep the home running smoothly.
Here’s a checklist for home maintenance tasks for every summer.
Monitor basement humidity and avoid relative humidity levels above 60 per cent. Use a dehumidifier to maintain relative humidity below 60 per cent.
Clean or replace air-conditioning filter, and clean or replace ventilation system filters if necessary.
Check basement pipes for condensation or dripping and, if necessary, take corrective action; for example, reduce humidity and/or insulate cold water pipes.
Check the basement floor drain to ensure the trap contains water; refill with water if necessary.
If you have a plumbing fixture that is not used frequently, for example, a laundry tub or spare bathroom sink, tub or shower stall, run some water briefly to keep water in the trap.
Deep clean carpets and rugs.
Vacuum bathroom fan grille.
Disconnect the duct connected to your clothes dryer, and vacuum lint from duct, the areas surrounding your dryer and your dryer�s vent hood outside.
Check security of all guardrails and handrails.
Check smooth functioning of all windows, and lubricate as required.
Inspect window putty on outside of glass panes of older houses, and replace if needed.
Sand and touch up paint on windows and doors.
Lubricate door hinges, and tighten screws as needed.
Check for and replace damaged caulking and weatherstripping around mechanical and electrical services, windows and doorways, including the doorway between the garage and the house. See the About Your House fact sheet Attached Garages and Indoor Air Quality for more information on preventing garage-to-house air transfer.
Lubricate garage door hardware, and ensure it is operating properly.
Lubricate automatic garage door opener motor, chain and other moving parts, and ensure that the auto-reverse mechanism is properly adjusted.
Inspect electrical service lines for secure attachment where they enter your house, and make sure there is no water leakage into the house along the electrical conduit. Check for overhanging tree branches that may need to be removed.
Check exterior wood siding and trim for signs of deterioration; clean, replace or refinish as needed.
Remove any plants that contact � and roots that penetrate � the siding or brick.
From the ground, check the general condition of the roof and note any sagging that could indicate structural problems requiring further investigation from inside the attic. Note the condition of shingles for possible repair or replacement, and examine roof flashings, such as at chimney and roof joints, for any signs of cracking or leakage.
Check the chimney cap and the caulking between the cap and the chimney.
Repair driveway and walkways as needed.
Repair any damaged steps.
As the seaons change the maintenance tasks change too. Sometimes we forget and realize too late our mistakes which are hard to fix sometimes or cause us a lot of misery or some sort of damage because we were too lazy to correct a problem at the right time before the start of a season.
Here’s a seasonal home maintenance checklist for spring.
2. Clean windows and repair any ripped screens. If a screen has a large hole in it, it’s time to replace it.
3. Check gutters for clogs. Clean out any debris and make sure gutters and downspouts are secure (You can hire someone to do this if you’d rather not get up on the ladder yourself.).
4. Check the ground around the foundation of your house and re-grade it if necessary. (The ground around the foundation should slope away from the house.).
5. If you have a sump pump, test it to make sure it’s working properly. There are several ways to do this, including taking off the lid and pouring in water to see if the pump kicks on.
6. If you have an attic fan, make sure it’s working properly before the heat of summer arrives.
7. Test any GFCI outlets: plug in a lamp, hit the test button and then the reset button to see if it turns the light off and then on again (GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter. These types of outlets are designed to protect you from severe or fatal electric shocks. They’re often found in the kitchen and bathroom, or any place near a water source.).
8. Check for cracks in asphalt or concrete driveways and walkways. Repair or reseal them before winter, when water can freeze and expand in the cracks, creating more damage.
9. Check trees around the house to make sure they’re not threatening wires or power lines. If they are, call a tree service to safely trim back branches.
10. Check the roof. If you find holes, crumbling, blistering or rotting roofing, repair or replace it (Again, this may be a job for an expert.).
The peak of winter is the worst time to discover you have left a task on your seasonal maintenance checklist for winters. When your buried under several feet of snow is not the right time to figure that a vent is blocked or there is leak in the attic.
* Check the attic for leaks or blocked vents, inspect the insulation, and make sure there is no daylight coming in through the roof or around chimneys (which can indicate a leak or hole).
* Replace furnace filters.
* Have a technician check the furnace fan belt and lubricate the motor if needed
* Clean and test all smoke alarms, and check or replace the batteries.
* Test all ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) and all panel breakers.
* Remove ice and snow from porches and concrete stairs as soon as possible � avoid salts or other melting chemicals that can damage the concrete.
* Never pile snow against the side of your home.
* In freezing or snow conditions, check for ice dams on the overhangs of your roof.
* Avoid overloading circuits with heaters, appliances or seasonal lights.
* If you have an in-ground sprinkler system, make sure it is properly drained and winterized before freezing temperatures arrive.
* Check your faucets and make sure they�re not leaking � a simple solution that can save you money!
* Inspect all carbon monoxide detectors and make sure they�re in good working order.
Taking care of the home by following the various seasonal home maintenance checklists keeps the home running smoothly and without any major problems or trouble.
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