Spring Home Maintenance Tasks to Tackle This Month and Next

Spring has finally sprung and with warmer weather arriving (finally), there are some home maintenance and cleaning tasks that have waited all winter to be taken care of. Get your home and yard prepared for this season and summer by tackling some of these spring home maintenance tasks this month and next:

• Check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors: you should be testing your alarms and detectors regularly, and changing the batteries at least twice a year. Don’t wait for an emergency to find out if everything is working properly.
• Check the basement for water: with the spring thaw comes the opportunity for water damage if you’ve got cracks or foundation issues. Get into your basement and look for any signs of water damage or leaks, and get those repaired right away.
• Wash windows and screens: you’ll need to wait until the weather is warmer for this one, as you’ll want to take out the screens and wash all the windows in your home. Get them from the outside too if you can!
• Check your patios and decks: look around the exterior of your home to see if there’s any repairs or maintenance work needed on your patios or decks. Check for things like loose nails or boards, chipped paint or uneven floors.
• Clean the yard: before you can start refreshing and renewing your yard, you’ll need to cleanse it of everything leftover from the last two seasons. Start by raking and weeding your yard, so you can deal with the grass underneath.
• Soil: chances are, areas of your yard will need to have new soil put in, or you may even need to replace full sections of grass. Start with the soil, and be sure to always mix in fertilizer and then use a roller or similar yard tool to flatten and even the area.
• Sod or seed: rolling out carpet sod is no doubt the easiest solution to putting down new grass, but some experts suggest going the route of seeding if you’re just filling in areas, as the grass will grow more evenly with the rest.

The City of Calgary is also performing spring maintenance and cleaning on the roads, so for more information on that, check out their website. Happy Spring!