Springtime! It’s one of my favorite times of year, and maybe yours too! It means summer is almost here, cold weather is over, and it’s time to start enjoying the outdoors more. Spring is also a time when a little home maintenance goes a long way. Here are some tips to make sure your home is kept in the best possible condition, and that you are doing the things that are your responsibility under your lease agreement.

• Air-Conditioning Filter Replacement: This is a 5 minute job that can save you money on your utility bill, help ensure your home stays cooler in summer, and help keep your HVAC system in good shape.
• Gutter Cleaning: Keeping the gutters free of leaves and debris is important. It helps prevent things such as roof damage, leaks inside the home, and can prevent pests, such as ants or bees making nests in them. Particularly during the spring and summer months, when we are more likely to experience thunderstorms with heavy rainfall, it’s important to make sure this is done. If you need a referral to an inexpensive gutter cleaning company, please contact us. Also, please take a quick look to make sure your downspout diverter/s are lined up correctly to direct rain water from the gutters away from the foundation of the house.
• Insect Prevention: As landlords, we provide termite prevention services, but did you know that other insects, such as ants, spiders, or fleas can be easily prevented as well? We recommend using a product such as Ortho Home Defense. It’s inexpensive and comes in a container with an easy-to-use sprayer, and spending 15 minutes, four times per year, can prevent ever having insects in the house. We set reminders on our calendars to do ours once each quarter, on March 15, June 15, September 15, and December 15. We recommend spraying the outside of the home along the foundation, exteriors of windows, exteriors of doors, and any small cracks/possible entry points. At the spring application, we also do the inside along bathroom and kitchen windows and doors, entry doors, and around the fireplace. If you have a dog, being sure to keep your dog current on heartworm/flea prevention is not only best for your dog’s health, but also goes a long way to ensure you don’t end up with fleas inside the home.
• Weeds: Did you know that preventing weeds is far less work than removing them once they’ve already grown? Keeping up with planting beds, sidewalks, driveways, or gravel areas doesn’t have to be a ton of work or very expensive! Roundup Max Control comes in a container with a sprayer, and we do ours on a similar schedule as we do with the insect prevention (above). It is excellent for killing existing weeds and preventing additional weeds. Apply it to gravel areas, driveways, walkways/sidewalk cracks, and in planting beds between the plants/bushes. Just be careful not to get it on your lawn, or any bushes or flowers, because it really does kill everything it comes in contact with! If you have any existing weeds, they are much easier to pull out if you kill them with the Roundup first.
• Think Ahead About Water: Do you have items you plan to set up for summer, such as a baby pool for your kids/dog, or another item that will involve large amounts of water? If so, keep in mind that when you need to empty it, you won’t want your yard to fill up with water, or for water to run against the foundation of the house. Always set up far from the house and/or plan to use a pump or hose for emptying so you don’t end up with a muddy yard or foundation problems.

I hope you’ve found these tips helpful! I know that, for me, taking care of these things proactively makes things much easier than waiting and trying to address them after the fact!

–Best,

Lori Verni