Simple Tips To Get Your Home Ready For Spring
During the winter months, it can be exhausting being cooped up inside waiting for spring to come. Maintaining your home suddenly becomes a chore but having a healthy home actually can go beyond dusting and vacuuming a few times a week. When was the last time you checked your smoke alarms to make sure they are working? What about cleaning your dryer vent? There are a few easy and spring season ideas to keep you and your family ready for springtime!
Image: Premier Surfaces
Gut It Out – That’s right- I mean grabbing a ladder and cleaning out the gutters because let’s face it when was the last time you cleaned out all the gunk and garbage that gets stuck in your gutter month after month? Grab a ladder and check all around your home for debris. Remove as much as you can with your hands ( helpful tip is to wear gloves to do this! ) Remove any gunk with a garden hose. Take the nozzle and have someone turn the water on for you when you are ready to start. Shove the house into the downspout to power out the gooseneck bends. Make sure your downspout channel water at least five feet from your foundation walls. Once they are clean, you’ll feel a lot better when a rainstorm comes because they won’t be backed up!
Clean The Dryer Vent – I’m extremely anal about making sure my dryer lint trap is clear each and every time I have to do a load of laundry but what about your dryer vent? Did you know a clogged dryer vent is actually a fire hazard and it’s so easy to prevent this! To clean it, disconnect the vent from the back of your machine and use a dryer vent brush to remove the lint. Outside your house, remove the dryer vent cover and use the brush to remove the lint from the other side of the vent. Make sure the vent cover flap moves freely and you’re all set to go!
Wash Exterior Windows– You’ve spent all winter cleaning the inside windows to make sure they are spotless of fingerprints and dirt but now that the weather is slowly warming up, you want to clean the exterior windows. You have two choices; hire someone to help or do it yourself. Grab a bucket of soapy water, a good sponge and either a squeegee or paper towel to dry the windows once you are done washing them. This lets in so much more light than you ever thought possible once they are clean both inside and out! I love the difference a clean window makes in our home!
Seal Your Countertops – If you have granite countertops, you know that you need to seal them every so often so here’s a quick test to do so using water. Pour a bit of water on the counter, roughly about ¼ a cup should be ok. Be mindful of the time you place water on the counter and time in the water to see how long it takes to absorb ( the granite will darken). If it immediately absorbs the water, apply a couple layers of sealer annually and wipe spills quickly. If in 4-5 minutes it absorbs, you’ll want multiple layers of sealer but only redo this every 3-5 years or so. Use the water test again before reapplying. If it absorbs in 10 minutes, you’ll want just a single layer of sealer and this can be many years before a reapplication is needed. Although this may be a simple test, you might not be so keen on having countertops to reseal all the time and making wanting to update your countertops to something a bit more durable. A company called Stone Countertops by Premier Surfaces has various countertops for you to choose from including limestone, wood, granite, marble and yes, even granite. Their customer service is second to none, helping to answer any questions you have, easy installation packages and locations all around the United States to share their showrooms in person.
Fix Anything That’s Broken – If that door handle keeps coming off and you need to replace it, then do so! Nothing feels better than fixing items that need to be fixed and doing these small things around your home will help you feel better as time goes on. It can also be as easy as installing a new light bulb in the lamp by your bed but if they are bigger like your furnace needs replacing, it’s actually cheaper to tackle these repairs now and call a repairman to help with your HVAC, roof repairs or window replacements! Once spring comes, you won’t have to worry about it because it’ll be finished!
Are there any other tips and tricks to get your home ready for spring that you and your family do? Share in the comment below and hopefully these will help you get your home ready for warmer weather that’s ahead!
