Home maintenance is a chore that people often leave to the last minute or until after a problem has developed due to putting the task off for another day. The best approach to take is to isolate the maintenance chores that won’t take many days to complete and knock them out one-by-one. This cuts down the list of outstanding tasks which makes the remainder more manageable.
Here are four tips for home maintenance that can be completed in a short period of time.
Cleaning the Gutters
When you reach the last few months of the year, the leaves begin to fall off the trees and your home’s gutters get the brunt of it. Before the leaves turn to mulch, they can block up gutters preventing rainwater from flowing out. Cleaning out the gutters doesn’t take too long, but it’s a mucky job.
When you’re ready for a different option, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn that the K-Guard gutter system is better solution. To showcase its effectiveness, the company behind K-Guard regularly give away a set of gutters to one lucky homeowner. Because of where they’re based, Virginia residents could win free gutters! This is great for local residents who find that stretching their budget to replace ineffective gutters is too much to afford right now.
Refreshing the Paint Job
The exterior of your home might have looked pristine a few years ago, but how does it look today? If the paint is looking tired, with noticeable chips or peeling, then it’s clearly seen better days. Depending on the level of deterioration, it might be possible to perform some careful touch-ups to resolve the paint issues in specific areas. Otherwise, a fresh coat of paint is called for now. Consider whether a protective layer or a primer is needed first as outdoor paint needs to withstand the elements more than paint products only used indoors.
While repainting is a great way to provide weather protection to your home, it can also be used to perform a makeover too. Consider if it’s time to change up the color of the home’s exterior? Perhaps something bright and lively to lend a totally different look when driving up?
Dealing with Heating and Cooling
Look at the heating and cooling systems in your home. With heating, HVAC, regular heaters and furnaces often have filters fitted to them that get clogged up. They need replacing usually every few months, so check the manual for the heating system to keep them providing good service.
With fans, they do require regular cleaning to remove dust that builds up around the fan blades and the exterior. All the collected dust gradually gets dislodged and then redistributed towards the person whom the fan is directed at. Dealing with house dust at the best of times isn’t fun, but not cleaning the fan leads to more dust than you’d expect when you forget to clean a standing fan.
With air conditioning systems, they have angled fins that pick-up dust and debris. Exterior vents that push out heat get clogged up too. Inside AC units are filters that either can be cleaned or replaced. Not dealing with the filters can cause serious disease, so don’t forget.
Tending to the Patio or Deck
If you have a back yard that sports a wooden deck or garden patio, then it might not have been properly cleaned since last winter. The accumulated grime by this time is going to be quite noticeable. Before this year is over and winter sets in once again, get rid of the layer of grime from messing up your patio. Return it back to its former glory and enjoy lazy evenings when there’s still some warmth to be enjoyed.
With a deck, every year you should perform some routine maintenance on it. Look for any nails lying around or wooden panels that have fresh cracks. Remove the nails and fix the deck or get in a specialist to help out. Once done, use a hose to spray the deck, add a suitable cleaner and leave it to sit for a quarter of an hour. Use a broom to scrub the deck clean. After that, add a solution to protect the wood from rotting during damp conditions. Once the wooden deck is completely dry (which will take 5-7 days), re-stain it and then seal it to complete the protection. At that point, it’s ready to handle the winter and come out in good condition next spring too.
While tasks like cleaning a deck can be completed over a period of a few days, each session doesn’t have to take long. Similarly, repainting exterior walls, one side at a time, is a simple weekend task that’s easy to do and provides a good sense of accomplishment. Pushing through these tasks on the weekend is the best idea to knock them out quickly.
Blog Uploaded: 16th June 2015