Maintaining the Exterior of Your Home
You likely spend a lot of time maintaining the inside of your home. But how much time do you spend maintaining the outside?
As you prepare your home for the fall, check to see if the harsh heat and severe storms from the summer did any damage to your home’s siding, deck and to other surfaces.
Here is a list of the places you should be monitoring on the exterior of your home:
- Roofing. If you see any missing shingles, these need to be replaced immediately. Failure to do so could result in a leaky roof. Also, check for areas where it looks like shingles are being damaged from exposure to the sun, such damage will look like curling shingles. To replace or repair shingles on top of your home, call a roofing contractor.
- Foundation. Check for vertical, horizontal or stair-step pattern cracks on your home’s foundation. These cracks need to be inspected, repaired and filled in to ensure that water isn’t able to seep inside and cause damage to your home.
- Window and door frames. Check to make sure that there aren’t any gaps in these frames. If there are, exterior caulk should be able to take care of the problem. Filling in these gaps is important because, otherwise, conditioned air from inside your home will be able to escape.
- Air conditioner. Trim back tree limbs or bushes that may be up against or over your outside air conditioning unit. If you don’t, leaves and limbs may drop into the unit and cause it to lose efficiency.
- Siding. It is a smart idea to have the outside of your home pressure washed at least once a year to get rid of built-up grime and dirt. This doesn’t only make your home look much nicer, but it can also prevent premature wear and tear, and the growth of mildew.
- Driveway. If there are cracks in your driveway, or if the concrete surface has become unlevel in spots, you need to get the problem taken care of before it gets worse. Unlevel, cracked concrete can become a tripping hazard to your family members or to anyone who visits your home.