Just like your car, your house needs regular tune-ups to ensure everything is running at optimal speed, efficiency, and safety. You can complete these simple maintenance tasks pretty quickly, and get on with living in and enjoying your house. Here, we’ve laid out a seasonal checklist of what we consider to be each season’s top priority. If you get nothing else done in this time, get these done!

Spring Maintenance

Spring is the time when the flowers start growing in, the leaves come back, and the lawns revitalize. This is the time to make your home look alive too! It’s also a great time to look forward to the rest of the year and take stock of what needs to be done.

Indoor Tasks:

• Make sure you know when to set your clocks forward.
• Test all your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Replace batteries where needed.
• Dust the blinds and vacuum the curtains throughout your house.
• Deep clean the kitchen pantry. Reorganize all the food and throw away anything outdated.
• Same thing with the bathroom closet and cabinets. Pull it all out, look it over, and get rid of anything outdated.
• If you have a sump pump in your basement, test it. Do this by dumping a large bucket of water into the basin. If the pump activates then you’re done! If it doesn’t activate, then it might be time to call a professional to get it inspected.

Outdoor Tasks:

• Clean out the gutters and downspouts. Click here to learn more.
• Test your LawnMower and get it serviced if needed.
• Tune-up your Lawnmower. Click here to learn more.
• Fertilize your lawn.
• Wash the windows, inside and out.
• Check window screens. Replace any ripped or damaged ones and clean the rest.
• Touch up damaged or peeling paint. Or just give it a new coat! Click here to learn more.
• Replace glass on interior doors with screens.

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Summer Maintenance

The summer is the perfect time to make things cool. From keeping your yard lush to your AC running, summer is the time to tackle these kinds of projects.

Indoor Tasks

• Make sure that AC is running! Clean or change the ventilation and AC filters. Make sure you’re doing it right by consulting the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Clean your kitchen appliances. Seriously clean them, right down to the refridgerator coils. Don’t be afraid to get in there and get clean!
• Drain or flush water heater.
• Check the windows for leaks and drafts

Outdoor Tasks

• Prune shrubs and trees
• Remove lint built up in the dryer vents. Click here to learn more.
• Clean your deck and inspect for weak spots, broken boards, etc.
• Reseal your deck
• Check your roof for damage, mold, stains, and more.
  • Look inside your attic.
• Pressure wash your home’s exterior and walkways.

Fall Maintenance

When the Autumnal season rolls around, the world starts becoming as cool as you are. Get out there and complete these tasks before the impending winter ends your ability to do most exterior work.

Indoor Tasks

• Remember when you checked your Smoke and CO detectors in the Spring? Do it again.
• Set traps for rodents (non-lethal exists and are effective).
• Have furnace inspected professionally.
• Dust the blinds, vacuum the curtains, again.
• Inspect your attic insulation, if it doesn’t exist, add it.
• Check weather stripping on windows, doors, and in the garage. Click here to learn more.

Outdoor Tasks

• Clean those gutters again.
• Inspect roof and Chimney for cracks and damage
• Rake those leaves and decide what to do with them.
  • Put them out front for the town truck to take them away
  • Bag them and trash them.
  • Set them aside for your compost pile (This one is our favorite)
• Put away the outdoor furniture. Or cover them with a tarp.
• Remove hoses from spigots and drain for storage.
• Tune-up your snowblower.
• Prepare your Lawn and Garden equipment for winter. Click here to learn more.

Winter Maintenance

Here it is, the snow! Now what? Luckily there are still plenty of things to help keep that house running like a well-oiled machine even when the outside is buried deep.

In the case of a winter like the 2015-2016 winter, sandals are an optional choice until January

Indoor Tasks

• Change or clean furnace filters.
• Buy new shovels if your old ones are chipped or broken.
• Clean down those kitchen appliances again.
• Give those carpets a good cleaning. Click here to learn more.
• Prepare your home for a winter storm. Click here to learn more.
• Insulate your pipes to prevent freezing. Click here to learn more.

Outdoor Tasks

• Keep walkways shoveled and ice free. Click here to learn about ice melt.
• Keep your roof free of ice dams. Click here to learn more.
• Just keep your roof clean of everything. Make it easy. Click here to learn more
• Keep an eye on any fuel tank indoor or out.
• Stack firewood in a dry location.
• Make sure your stove vents are clean before use.

Wrap up

Keeping your home up and running is an all year chore, but teaming up with Koopman Lumber makes it easy. Contact us at any one of our 7 locations, or just read through the archive of blogs we’ve made here to learn what it takes to keep your house up and running. Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next time!