Home Maintenance Tips to Get Summer Ready
The weather is warming up, and you’re likely planning a few BBQs or family gatherings. Or maybe you hit the deck when the doorbell rings, but you still enjoy a little cleanliness. By focusing on a few home maintenance tips, you’ll not only keep your house ready to welcome guests, but regular maintenance will also keep your home value increasing over the long term. At Dani Beyer Real Estate, we know what keeps a house in optimal shape for a quick sell!
Cleaning a home can feel overwhelming and honestly who really dusts the baseboards on a regular basis? However, there are tasks you can invest a little time in for the best return on your efforts. Here are a few ideas for prepping the outside of your home, plus some tasks for when the heat chases you inside:
Clean out the gutters: Most people think of this task as a late fall chore, cleaning out gutters once the leaves have finished falling. It really is best to clean out your gutters both in the fall and the spring, once seed pods and flowers have stopped dropping onto your house. Cleaning them out will help keep those spring rains from causing any water damage due to misdirected water.
Check the roof: Like cleaning out the gutters, checking the roof is a great opportunity to see how steady you are on a ladder. You may not think about your roof often, but you’ll definitely wish you’d checked it more often if you ever get a leak. Take time this spring to check for loose shingles or any place where you think water could get in.
Pressure wash the outside: A good cleaning each spring protects the exterior of your home and prepares it for painting. Before you begin, cover plants, electrical outlets, windows and doors to prevent damage. Be sure children are out of the line of fire, unless there’s some seriously baked on mud pie mess that needs attention (Just kidding; never spray muddy children with a pressure washer. You’ll just get more mud on your house.)
Refrigerator seals and coils: Once the weather heats up, turn your attention to the indoors for more home maintenance tips. Clean your refrigerator coils with your vacuum attachment, or create a right-sized vacuum attachment with a cardboard tube. You should also check the gaskets on your fridge, placing a dollar bill in the magnetic seal and then tugging to see if there’s resistance. If your dollar bill slips right out, you may need to replace the gaskets. If it sticks, you’ll save cold hard cash.
Range hood vent filter and fan: The hood and vent over your stove probably get a regular swipe when you clean your kitchen, but the inside can get dirty as well. Wash the grease filter in warm soapy water and vacuum the fan to keep your vent running efficiently all year, no matter how much bacon you cook in a year (seriously, we checked).
Bathroom vent fans: The vent in your bathroom can collect a lot of dust, so remove the cover, vacuum the fan and surrounding area and then add spray lubricant to keep your vent running quietly. When it’s time to sell your home, a noisy fan can be a tip-off to potential buyers that your home needs a little maintenance.
Bathroom drains: This is not a job for the faint of heart or queasy of stomach, but it needs to be done. Prevent a clogged drain by doing regular maintenance on your bathroom. Remove the drain assembly and then use a drain stick to pull any hair or other clogging materials out of the drain. Next, pour some bleach down the drain to fight any mildew or other buildup, wait 10 minutes and then flush with water.
These home maintenance tips will keep your house in the best possible shape and ensure that it’s ready to go on the market when you’re ready to sell. To learn more about preparing your house for a buyer, contact us at Dani Beyer Real Estate! We have the expertise to help you sell your home quickly!