Spring Cleaning and Home Maintenance Tips

It’s springtime! In Houston, there is no mistaking the arrival of Spring… just ask anyone with pollen allergies. Today’s post will share some helpful home maintenance tips that are perfect to tackle during the Spring season.

First, some quick tips about Spring Cleaning in a way that will minimize allergy flare-ups and keep you operating on you’re A-game.

1. Always work from top to bottom. Starting at the ceiling and work your way down (fans, walls, furniture tops, window coverings/blinds/shutters, window sills, baseboards, floors). This will force debris and dust downward as you go and will keep you from having to repeat any cleaning or dusting along the way.
2. Suit up! If you suffer from allergies, be sure to protect yourself while you unsettle all the dust that’s built up in your home over the winter months. Wear gloves, a mask, and a hat and even consider showering after your deep cleaning sessions.
3. Clean your vacuum. Be sure to empty your vacuum cleaner’s bag BEFORE and AFTER vacuuming your home. It will make the vacuum work better and will minimize the risk of the dust and dirt from re-entering your living spaces. If you’re open to splurging, consider a high-quality HEPA vacuum that catches microscopic airborne particles so that you and your family won’t be breathing them.
4. Don’t forget to change your HVAC filters. During pollen season, a family with seasonal allergies may want to change their filters not once but twice depending on the severity of their reactions. Be sure to use a high-quality filter with a high MERV rating but one that doesn’t restrict airflow and make your systems work too hard. Clean filters keep tiny irritating particles from entering your living spaces. This is a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to make sure you’re breathing clean, healthy air.
5. Declutter! There is nothing that will make you feel better and breathe easier than removing unnecessary clutter from your home. Follow the tried-and-true strategy of organizing all clutter into Trash, Give Away, Store Long-Term, and Put Away categories. And try your darndest to make the first two categories catch the majority of your items.
   
   

Now for the not-so-obvious home maintenance tips to tackle in the Spring. You may recall from a previous blog post that our team has published a FREE downloadable Home Maintenance Checklist that breaks down all home maintenance items to tackle throughout the year. (You can download it here.) Here are the six items we suggest doing during the Spring season:

1. Exterior Drainage: Walk around your home after a big rain to make sure water is draining AWAY from your foundation.
2. Gutters: Clean your gutters to prevent buildup and avoid trouble spots on your roof.
3. Exterior Inspection: Do a quick walk around your home to check for paint chipping, siding damage, foundation cracks, window cracks, door & window caulking issues, and weather-stripping gaps.
4. Landscaping: Clear all dead plants to ensure the health of other plants and cut down any damaged tree branches that are close to your home.
5. Irrigation: Hire an irrigation specialist to ensure your sprinklers are not spraying on the house and are providing correct coverage to landscaping.

Keep your home healthy and high-performing by giving it a little TLC. From tackling your Spring cleaning to checking off some important home maintenance to-do items, your hard work during this season will not go unappreciated. The payoff will be better indoor air quality for you and your family as well as a home with fewer significant issues cropping up unexpectedly.