Kick Off Summer Right With These Home Maintenance Tips
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The first official day of summer is just around the corner, and if there’s one season when home maintenance is important in North Texas … well, it’s all of them. But in summer, when temperatures reach triple digits and drought conditions take hold, your home can really use some TLC. Make sure you keep up with your home maintenance. To that end, here are a few tasks that will help your home make it through the long, hard North Texas summer.
Garage Maintenance
More often than not, garage doors break down during extreme cold or extreme heat spells. It’s a good idea to give that big, heavy door that’s baking in 100-plus-degree temperatures on the outside and is basically an oven on the inside, some extra love. Your manufacturer’s guide should have tips for how to properly care for it, but if you don’t have that handy, here’s a useful video on garage door maintenance.
Check Your Gutters and Drainage
Summer is actually the perfect time to maintain your rain gutters because it’s so dry. Would you rather scoop out a heavy, slimy, wet mess or a dry, easy-to-clean mess? And while you’re cleaning those dry rain gutters, take note of the drainage pattern, so you don’t end up with problems like Inspector Brian found in this video. If you have gutters that drain directly to the roof, you can get connecting pipes to redirect the water to the ground.
Sprinkler System Maintenance
Assuming this is a sprinkler head and not a poorly placed water feature, the most common reason for a geyser like this is a broken head. You can usually replace it yourself by purchasing a new one at a hardware store or online. But how did it break to begin with? Sprinkler heads typically break when they fail to retract when they’re finished watering, and a sprinkler head stuck in the upright position is just waiting for a lawn mower, dog, or what-have-you to take it out.
If you find a sprinkler head that won’t retract, first pump it with your hand or foot to dislodge any debris that might be blocking it. If there’s no blockage, it may be a spring malfunction, which will require replacing the head.
During the summer, you should run your system zone by zone to check for leaks, misdirected sprinkler heads, and broken lines. Walk the area to look for missing or broken heads and any pooling water.
If you have questions about summer home maintenance or what you should do to take care of your home across the year, we recommend a seasonal maintenance home inspection. You can get a status report on all your house’s systems and information on any repairs or improvements you may need.
