Are These 4 Essential Spring Maintenance Tasks on Your To-Do List?
Do you get the urge to clean your entire house beginning in the spring? If so, you’re not alone. Millions of people compulsively clean their homes in the spring, cleaning under furniture, disinfecting surfaces, and donating unused items to thrift stores.
According to data obtained by Businesswire.com, 77% of households participate in spring cleaning each year and the entire process takes about six days to complete.
Are you ready to begin your Spring cleaning adventure? Since you’re already in the mood to clean, don’t forget to add the following tasks to your list.
- Check your weep holes
There are consequences for overlooking certain spring maintenance tasks. While not all consequences are serious, some can be damaging when ignored for too long. For example, when was the last time you tested your weep holes? Not sure what a weep hole is?
Weep holes are tiny holes placed at the bottom of an exterior window frame. When rain gets into the frame, these tiny holes drain the rain away from your house. Although these holes are tiny, they can get clogged and cause water backup that can damage your window frame.
Maintenance pros at Kefauver Lumber recommend gently spraying your windows with a garden hose. If you see streams of water leaving the weep holes, they’re not clogged. If the water comes out in spurts or drains slowly, there’s a clog.
- Clean all roofs and gutters
Cleaning your roof regularly isn’t optional, especially when your shingles aren’t capable of repelling moss and algae. If you live in the city, you probably don’t have to worry about green stuff growing on your roof and complex root systems cracking your shingles. However, you do need to worry about debris and clogged gutters.
If you live in the city:
Clean your gutters as often as possible. If you don’t feel comfortable getting on the roof, hire a maintenance company to clean for you. They’ll remove all the debris including leaves and branches that landed on your roof from wind storms.
If you live in the country:
Clean your roof as usual, but also sprinkle some Moss Off (or a similar zinc-based product) on your roof before the first rain. To get the most out of these anti-moss products, knock any existing moss and algae off your roof with a broom first.
No matter where you live, don’t forget to clean the roof on other external buildings like chicken coops, sheds, saunas, and pump houses. Hopefully, your other buildings have gutters. If not, consider installing a simple gutter system to manage rain flow.
- Sweep your chimney
Whether you have a traditional fireplace or a wood stove, it’s imperative to keep your chimney clean. If it’s been a while, spring is the perfect time to get sweeping. For standard fireplaces, a regular chimney brush will do the trick.
How often you should clean your chimney depends on how often it’s used and the conditions under which you burn wood. An open fireplace has unrestricted airflow and will almost always burn cleaner than a wood stove. For wood stoves, the process could be a little more challenging.
For example, burning green or wet wood creates far more creosote than burning dry, seasoned wood. Also, creosote buildup will be thicker and more tar-like when air flow is restricted, flue temperatures are low, and combustion is incomplete.
Clean thoroughly now and keep up regular cleaning
Use your Spring cleaning motivation to clean your chimney as much as possible to make routine cleaning easier. When a wood stove is your main source of heat, it’s recommended to clean your chimney at least once every six months. However, you may need to clean yours more often.
- Drain and clean your water heater
Spring is the perfect time to drain and clean your water heater. If you’ve never cleaned your water heater, you might be surprised to see it work better after a thorough flush.
For those who have hard water, mineral build-up is a threat to your water heater. Too much mineral build-up can tank your water heater (pun intended). If you’re using a tankless water heater with hard water, your appliance is even more at risk.
Call a professional to flush your water heater and then ask how often they recommend repeating the process. Once cleaned, they’ll be able to give you a suggested cleaning cycle.
Have fun with your spring cleaning tasks
While you’re cleaning, remember to have fun. Teach the kids how to perform basic cleaning tasks around the house. Create a cleaning competition. Do whatever’s necessary to enjoy spring cleaning.
