Time for spring maintenance!

Time for spring maintenance!

Spring naturally rhymes with spring cleaning. The changing seasons are a perfect opportunity to revive your house with a bit of post-winter maintenance, whether you hope to help your future resale efforts or just enjoy it to the fullest throughout the summer.

 

Backyard and patio

Once winter is safely behind us, it’s time to prepare the yard for summer. You can start by prettying up the patio, either by cleaning the concrete with a pressure washer or by restaining faded wood (patio floor, railing, privacy screens). If the planks are showing signs of age, they’ll need to be changed, or if small cracks are the only problem, they can be repaired.

As the link between the inside and the outside, the patio door also deserves some love. Start by checking the screen door and making the necessary repairs or replacements. Then, vacuum the frames and remove dirt and/or mildew with a solution of bleach and water. Last are the windows, the exterior of which you’ll want to clean on a cloudy day. If it’s sunny outside, the cleaning solution will dry too quickly and leave marks.

As for the garden, spring maintenance includes removing winter protection before the first buds appear and fertilizing plantations (shrubs, flowerbeds).

Patio 

Façade and garage

The façade of a house has to reflect its good condition. That’s why you need to take good care of the entrances, including the garage. Make sure that the doors work well, lubricating the opening mechanisms if you need to (hinges, automatic motor, etc.). Putting some time into repairing the exterior steps, the parking area (by applying protective sealer to a damaged driveway, for example) and secondary paths will improve your home’s appearance and value. Other things you should check include the strength of the stair railings for your main entrance, the clearance of the gutters to ensure that water flows away from the foundations, and more.

 

Doors and windows

If you want your house to breathe again after the winter, it needs to be ventilated, and what more natural way to do this than to throw all the windows wide open at the first whiff of warmer weather? And light is just as essential as fresh air. We all know how wonderful it is when clean windows and door windows let the sunlight in freely. One simple, effective and eco-friendly trick for cleaning windows is to use a homemade mixture of 250 ml (1 cup) of white vinegar and 1 litre (4 cups) of water, then wipe it off with crumpled newspaper.

It’s also a good idea to inspect frames and sealant joints to make sure your doors and windows are airtight—any leak will let in hot air from outside the house during heat waves and send your air conditioning bill skyrocketing. Plug the gaps with silicone and enjoy your cooler (and cheaper!) summer.

Cleaning