A little home maintenace will save you time & money in the long run.
Now that Spring has arrived, it’s time to getting back to doing maintenance to your building, home or other structure. The snow is gone, and temperatures are nice to spend outdoors.
It’s important to inspect your building’s exterior. There are several things that should be addressed every single spring. Here are some areas to look into.
- Inspect your roof. Whether your roof is metal or shingles, it’s important to take a look at it every year. For an asphalt shingle roof, look for shingles that may be curling, buckling, or sliding out of place. If you notice any of these, it may be time to replace the roof, so contact a roofing contractor. If yours is a metal roof, look for peeling, cracking paint, or scratches. These may turn into larger issues down the road. In the case of an exposed fastener roof, look at the rubber washers on the sheet metal screws. Are they sealed tight? Do they look old and dried out, needing replacement? For a standing seam roof, are all the seams intact as they should be?
- Clean out your gutters. Gutters can accumulate leaves, granules, dirt and other debris that will clog the downspouts. If the downspouts become clogged and backed up, water will pool in the gutters, not only testing the integrity of the gutter, but the weight may rip them off the home. Overflowing gutters could cause water to go where it doesn’t belong along the eaves.
- Inspect your downspouts. Is water coming from the gutters getting moved away from the home far enough? Make sure that water is not pooling anywhere near the foundation, otherwise eventually your basement may leak. If needed, get extensions and add them to the downspouts to push water further from the home’s foundation. While on this topic, make sure that all landscaping around the home’s perimeter tapers away from the home so that water doesn’t pool next to the foundation.
- Cleaning your siding. If you have metal siding, it’s not likely you’ll have to handle this task, but if you have wood or vinyl siding, there may be some cleaning needed. There are siding cleaners you can get, or make your own, just be sure to protect any plants around the home so you don’t accidentally cause damage to them. A little scrubbing goes a long way in keeping your home looking fantastic with curb appeal.
- Plants, Flowers & Landscaping. Clear out dead plants from last fall, planting new ones and laying down fresh mulch makes your home look fantastic.
- Patio & Deck Mainetnance. Gently pressure wash any surfaces – removing peeling stain or paint, dirt, and grease or grime left behind from grilling.
- Do you have an airconditioner? Change the filter, and clean off the coils outside. Carefully take the outer casing off the air conditioner, and from the inside out, gently wash the coils with a garden hose. This will wash all the dirt, debris, and grass clippings off, resulting in a better efficiently running a/c unit, and a cooler home with lower energy costs.
If the day ever comes that you want to sell your home, it’s easier to do a little maintenance every year along the way, rather than doing it all at once, right before trying to sell it. If a home buyer sees that your home is taken care of, they will likely value your house with greater regard than one that someone has neglected. Keep the curb appeal in top condition.
Contact the team at All American Steel today on our website or by calling 608-377-7200 and get an estimate on materials for both an exposed fastener system and standing seam / concealed fastener system. We can do the design work, renderings, materials lists, provide the materials, and handle delivery to the jobsite. You can also visit our display at the All American Do it Center home improvement stores in Tomah, Sparta, or Richland Center Wisconsin.