Anyone else down to no teams left in the tourney? The real estate market has been almost as unpredictable as some of these basketball upsets, Go Peacocks!
The dusting of snow we got last night won’t last long so long so it’s time to think about spring cleaning and seasonal home maintenance.
Here are a few key spring clean up items homeowners can tackle to get things in good working order for the warmer months ahead.
OUTSIDE
Check all of your gutters and downspouts and make sure they are doing their job and ready for the rainy season. If you can’t safely access your gutters, consider hiring someone to do the clean out for you. Better yet, get some good quality gutter guards installed so you don’t need to do it every spring. Check your eaves and downspout connections, ensure they extending to the ground and then a good six feet away from the foundation. You can buy a flexible extension attachment if needed but getting this water away from your house can be the difference between a wet and dry basement.
If you have access to your basement window wells, make sure they aren’t filled up leaves and other debris and are ready to drain water away from the windows and foundation.
When you are turning on the outside water for the first time, have someone stay down in the basement for a few minutes to keep an eye on things. If a pipe has burst over the winter, the last thing you need is to come in from a few hours of gardening to find your basement flooded.
INSIDE
Pull out your furnace filter and change it if needed. We try and change ours every three months and it’s amazing how much more efficient the furnace is with a clean filter.
Check your fire, smoke and CO2 detectors. Replace batteries and have kids dust them off so they are in prime working order.
Pull up your vent covers and have your kids vacuum the registers out.
Pour a bucket of water down your floor drain. These drains have p-traps and when they ‘dry up’ the sewer gasses can creep up and enter your home. Filling the p-trap up with water helps to re-seal it and prevent this from happening.
And, if you are like me, take the time to take the holiday lights and decor down, it’s time to move on! Having the maintenance jobs out of the way means that the first day it’s warm enough, we can pull out our patio furniture and enjoy.
