The joy of emerging from your home after a few cool months can quickly be negated when you see the things in need of repair. Use this list to help keep your spring cleaning projects in order:<\/p>\n
Indoors<\/strong><\/p>\n Check the walls and woodwork. Repaint dark woodwork with a brighter color.<\/p>\n Make a list of anything that needs painting or staining.<\/p>\n Have your air conditioner or evaporative cooler serviced and replace all filters.<\/p>\n Have ducts and vents professionally cleaned.<\/p>\n Identify the small things like leaky faucets or loose cabinet doors. Have a handyman make all repairs at the same time to avoid multiple visits.<\/p>\n Clean or replace grout or caulk in bathrooms.<\/p>\n Have carpets professionally cleaned.<\/p>\n If you have ice dams on your roof in winter, call a contractor to install new roof vents.<\/p>\n Dust and clean light fixtures and ceiling fans.<\/p>\n An attic or whole house fan might be an appropriate solution for drawing warm air from the lower levels of your home.<\/p>\n Outdoors<\/strong><\/p>\n Inspect the entire exterior of your house.<\/p>\n On wood siding and trim, look for paint that is lifting or peeling, for splitting wood or areas where the wood grain is separating (“checking”) from water getting into the wood.<\/p>\n Having a professional painter waterproof and paint your house now will fill gaps and help your wood siding and trim last longer, saving you money in the long run.<\/p>\n On stucco, if you can rub a chalky residue onto your hand, oxidation of the paint or color coat is reducing the stucco’s insulating value.<\/p>\n Sweep off all spider webs and dirt from the exterior window sills and clean the glass.<\/p>\n Remove storm windows or doors, and replace with clean screens.<\/p>\n Power wash, sand and reseal your deck before it is exposed to the heat.<\/p>\n Replace splintered or worn deck boards.<\/p>\n If you are thinking of adding a porch or deck, now is the time to call a professional.<\/p>\n Make plans to install a new sprinkler system or walkway.<\/p>\n Spread mulch around shrubs and flowerbeds for a clean looking yard.<\/p>\n Remove debris that may have settled in gutters during winter.<\/p>\n Ensure that the downspouts are directing water away from the foundation of your house.<\/p>\n Look at the roof for loose or damaged shingles and contact a roofing contractor for repairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The joy of emerging from your home after a few cool months can quickly be negated when you see the things in need of repair. Use this list to help keep your spring cleaning projects in order: Indoors Check the walls and woodwork. Repaint dark woodwork with a brighter color. Make a list of anything …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cleaning-services","category-home-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}