Spring is a wonderful season, isn’t it?
With summer getting close, this is the prime time for seasonal repairs and maintenance. Any problems you can catch early will pay you back in the long run, adding beauty and value to your home in the process.
Let’s take a look first at a few common problem areas, and then we’ll dig into a few recommended maintenance ideas.
Wood Rot: Your #1 Springtime Threat
This wood munching fungus starts small, but it quickly devours all healthy fibers in its path. Unfortunately, it can also be easy to ignore the problem at first, allowing it to grow into a more widespread issue. Catch it quick, and save yourself a headache!
What are the most at-risk areas of your home?
- Brick molding (the trim around doors and windows)
- Where garage door meets concrete
- Bottom corners of your doors
- Window frames
- Window sills
- Decks
Look for soft, crumbling wood. Best yet, have a professional come by to inspect the common weak points, making a clear plan of action for repairs and prevention.
How Else Can You Protect Your Home This Spring?
Here’s what we recommend:
- Wood rot inspection (like we mentioned above).
- Pressure washing, just to remove any corrosive residue, mold, and mildew left behind by wintertime weather. This makes a HUGE difference, and can help your paint and stain to actually last longer.
- Refinish your exterior wood surfaces, like a deck, porch, or railings. Stain should really be addressed every couple of years to make sure it’s delivering maximum protection from pests, moisture, and UV damage.
- Touch-ups! It can be tempting to ignore exterior painting projects until they’re flaking and peeling, but by then you’re dealing with total paint failure. Ongoing maintenance is a MUCH more cost-effective approach.
- How’s the caulk around your windows? Healthy, flexible caulk helps to seal out pests, drafts, and moisture, but older, more brittle caulking can be a real liability. Your painter can check for this too.
Have a Painting Question? Let Us Know!
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