April 10, 2025 • 37 mins
The harsh winter winds and weather can be tough on our homes, making spring home maintenance important to keep your home in top shape. From inspecting the roof to the foundation to caulking and changing batteries in smoke detectors, we provide a thorough checklist to help you effectively manage your spring cleaning and maintenance.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to the Remax real Estate Insights Show
where you get real talk by real agents. Walk to
you by Remax of Southeastern Michigan. Welcome to the Remax
real Estate Insights Podcast. I'm Janette Schneider. I'm your host,
and we're happy to have you joining us today. We're
going to be talking about something every homeowner needs to tackle,
(00:21):
and that is spring home maintenance. It seems that this year,
the concept of spring is really more of a suggestion
than an actual season. Here in Michigan. We're in here
in what is it April? What a day is it today?
The eighth that we're recording this thirteen? Yeah, the winchill
is thirteen and we had a winter wind blowing us
in the door literally. But I do think that over
(00:43):
the weekend, temperatures go back into the sixties. So I
guess that's what we get here in Michigan. We get
a little bit of that seesaw. You know that we
have this roller coaster of temperatures, but is actually, I
guess maybe placed to our benefit, because really it indicates
how the weather can be tough on homes. If we
think it's tough on us as people, what do I
wear what am I doing. Your home is dealing with
(01:04):
all of this too, making spring home maintenance even more important,
from checking from maybe damage that did occur over the
winner to preparing your home for the warmer months that
are ahead. We have got a checklist of important tasks
to help keep your home in top shape. And of course,
if you are considering selling your home in the near future,
what we're sharing with you today is going to give
you a jump start on that to do list. And
(01:26):
joining me is Pam Blonte. She is the marketing director
with Remax of Southeastern Michigan. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Pam Tonette. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
You're more than welcome. Now. You are not an agent,
but I've been asking every agent how they got into
real estate. I won't ask you that since you're not licensed,
but how did you land with a career at rates?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Actually, well, my background is marketing, so I had been
in a different industry altogether prior to Remax, but in
between and that was more like the technology industry.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Believe it, not technology to real estate.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
But and technology over here, right, and tech followed you
over here, yes, but taking a little bit of time
off to raise the family and then coming back to work.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
It was kind of the opportunity was there, and that's
where no looking.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Back, right, no looking back. Well, like we just mentioned,
seasonal wear and tear, especially in places like Michigan with
extreme temperature swings, can cause cracks leaks. I'm going to
share a little bit about that later, and weather related damage,
especially to the exterior of your home. Your roof, you'r siding,
your foundation tends to take the brunt of these seasonal changes,
(02:40):
and ignoring these issues really doesn't do you any good.
It just leads to more damage. Beyond these issues, what
are some other ways that springhole maintenance provides value?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Yeah, you know, simple seasonal updates your landscaping, adding fresh
paint your home, cleaning your windows. Those can all make
a difference in helping home look always fresh and updated.
I think a couple of things you know to note
when you're kind of thinking about this topic and in
real estate is doing these things consistently and annually, we are.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Going to help you retain the market value of your home. Right.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
And then the other thing is when you are ready
to sell, if you've kind of kept on this to
do list, it's a little bit more manageable because you
don't then have to do all of this at one
time on time.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yes, it is. It's a little bit like that proverbial
you know, what is it, you know, eating the elephant.
It's a bite at a time, you know. And if
you're doing a little bit every year with you keeping
the landscape fresh, like you said, okay, this year, the
front door needs to be painted. And if you're doing
a little bits at a time, you can spread not
only the sweat equity, but the cost of doing it
out over time as well.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yeah, So we recommend, you know, as we get in
kind of to our checklist, we're going to recommend that
you focus on the outside first and work your way
inside because realistically, if you have a problem on the
outside of your home, more than likely it's going to
lead to problems on the inside. And if you end
up finding an issue, need to dress better to find
it out. Now, let's get on top of it. A
(04:03):
leaky roof really can't wait the new bathroom vanity ken,
So when we're talking about spring maintenance, it's like it
there's kind of the want to dos versus need to dos.
And yeah, the cosmetic always seems to trump, you know,
because that's the fun stuff, right right, But it's the
stuff that you need to do that you need to
pay attention to. So we're gonna start the list with
some relatively easy things you can do just to get
(04:25):
started in a good place to begin as attacks that
yields results you know that you can see in a
joy immediately. And to your point, that's kind of cleaning
windows and screens and things like that.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, And actually I really love this one.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
I love washing my windows. I do this one every sing.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
I didn't tell you that pans a little odd, but whatever, I.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Don't know about anything else on the list, this one
I definitely will do. But yeah, washing your windows inside
and out really does brighten up your home. So to
clean the extuire of your windows, use a solution of
mild vinegar and water. I actually use like window and
one yeah together, that seems to work good. But if
you have any stubborn stains, you can add a little
dish soap to that and then always be sure to
(05:07):
rinse well so you don't get that hazy yeah everything,
Yeah exactly. I usually I use a squeegee, you know,
and just you know, push the water down that way,
so it helps. It helps with the streaks and that
type of thing. Don't forget to clean your screens as well.
And and also while you're thinking windows, think about your
door entries and doors as well. Wipe those down and
(05:28):
also inspect your screens. You know, while you're in this process,
you know, expect those screens. You know, they might have
some tears or holes. You know, this is a good
time to take care of that and get them repaired.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, before you want to actually put them up. And
then you've got the little flying flying things.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So in adding you know, the other thing to is
you know, seals and uh, you know, calking around doors
and stuff like that. You know, adding cock to windows
and doors can have an added benefit, not just you know,
not only because it tightens all those things up, so
you know, whether you're trying to keep the warm air
in you know, as we're still having the furnace on,
or keeping cooler air in once you start, you know,
the air conditioner. It also does some noise reduction and
(06:09):
I think that that's an unintended maybe consequence people don't
don't think about there. Yeah, so spring spring brings out bugs.
We just talked about that. Another item that you may
want to add to the doors, and this is not
something I think that gets a lot of attention, is
most doors have those kind of rubber sweeps at the
bottom that's meant to kind of seal and you know,
again keep you know, keep air and other things out,
(06:30):
but ants and stuff can easily get in there. So
these are inexpensive. They fill that little gap between the
bottom of your door and the threshold, and those can
really help with keeping little insects out. So again, something
you may not think about when you're thinking, you know,
kind of spring maintenance, but something to put in there.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Right when you're looking at those windows and doors, perfect
time to.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Check that out.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Absolutely. The next item that can be good to tackle
early in the spring cleaning and we're and we're trying
to start to slow and easy stuff that you can
easily do before we get to ladders and other stuff
like that. But cleaning out the garage can be an
another good place to go.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yes, Yes, and this this tip I do love.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I do like this one as well because we do
the fall maintenance sometimes that we talk about bringing out
your snowblower and troubles so with this one. I love
this because this is where you get to store weight
them out of sight. So think about you know, stirring
your shovel, snowblowers and your ice mouth, that type of thing,
and then.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Pull out your lawn mower and put those to the forefront.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Lawn mower, any landscaping tools, maybe your fertilizer, any summer
recreation items you might have. You know, yourings out and
you know, and it is true that you know that
winter salt and grime does get tracked into your garage,
so you know, really sweep it out, wash it out
so that you're not tracking that into your house.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah. Absolutely, I hear the crunch, Like what you get
out of the car. We just swept it a couple
of weeks ago just to keep it clean. But it's
like it came back because we've had bad weather, you know,
and so that, like you said, the salt, the grime,
it all comes back. And I heard it this weekend
on I'm like, oh, we need to sweep it again.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
And your foyer yeah yeah, all of that now that
you're up and moving around. So we've got you up,
We've got your cleaning windows, we got you out in
the garage, you know, doing a little things. And like
I said, these are a little bit of the easier items,
but you know, hopefully that's got some momentum and some
mojo going to get you move in the times come
to get out that ladder and inspect your gutters and
your down spouts. This may not be necessarily the favorite task.
(08:22):
I don't know. Do you love this one? She's she tapped.
This is not necessarily a favorite task, but boy, isn't
an important one?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah? Yeah, it really is.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
You do want to get up there look for leftover
twigs or leaves, anything that's found its way into your gutters,
and you know, make sure that you move them and.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Clear them out.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I think you know, when we talk about fall maintenance,
we kind of talk about the same thing, right, right,
But there can be left over or additional leaves that.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Because some stuff has fall. I mean there's a lot
of trees that don't seem to fall until after the
snow is on the ground and you're probably putting a
ladder up then.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
So yeah, yeah, right, absolutely, so you know, get up
there clean them out because just remember, poor and improper
drainage does cause can cause damage to your home Ultimately
there's gonna be no place for that water to go,
and it's going to overflow onto your foundation.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
It can cause problems.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
But also check for loose and leaky gutters and ensure
that your downspouts are positioned to drain the water away
from your homes foundation again, because you know, if it's not,
if there's no place for that water to go, it's
just gonna sit at your foundation, then you're asking for
you know, expensive problems, but not.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Just yeah problem, yeah, where the cost involves zeros and
maybe a comma. Yeah, so yeah, nobody, nobody wants that.
And you know, like you said, we know that this
time of the year, there's bound to be rain in
the forecast. You know, last week we had a couple
a couple of days of significant Kent rain and I
mean heavy rain, and you know we know that that's
part of the spring season. And then you know this
(09:51):
week we're getting more of a snow mix. But but
we know, you know, rain is going to be there,
and again let's get those gutters cleared. There's we've had
a lot of high wind days as well, which is
going to take some little twiggy you know things off
of trees and throw that into gutters. So it really
is good to get up there and do that. And
then while you're out there, it's a good time to
inspect the roof. The roof really is your home's first
(10:11):
line of defense. It protects everything else, right, and it
protects the inside, it protects your belonging, So it's really
an important thing to do. What are folks looking for
when we're talking about the roof.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Yeah, when you're up there, you want to be looking
for missing shingoles, look for any signs of warping, cracking,
or curved or loose shingles, and be sure to pay
attention to the flashing around the skylights and events as well.
And then you know, while you're up there, check out
your chimney. You want to look for any looser, missing bricks,
any peeling or deterioration around the ceiling or the seal
(10:44):
at the base of the chimney because weather can affect
that as well.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Really, oh, do you have a story to share? Yeah,
Pam knows I have a story to share, and we
discovered that, yes we are, roof has a leak. We
know if in for the it may have been listening
you know, consistently. We bought a house last year, so
we've only lived in the house a year, and we're
learning all sorts of things. We're learning on one hand
(11:09):
that I think the inspector didn't do the entire job
they were hired to do at the front end of this,
because they while they did go up in the attic,
it has become I think glaringly apparent that they did
not go all the way around the attic because apparently
the problem that's there has been there a while. We
just didn't know it was there and we discovered it
(11:29):
when what was it been about a week and a
half ago. We're watching TV and all of a sudden
we see a water line from the ceiling all the
way down to the fireplace and it's like a two
story you know, part of the house. And subsequent rains
over the last couple of weeks, it keeps happening. Even
though we had somebody come out to try to do
some you know, remedial repair, you know, to kind of
(11:50):
get us through and tarping, it's still getting through. So water.
Like we've said, whether it's down spouts, whether it's the roof,
it's a tricky it's a tricky substance. It's gonna it's
gonna find its way. So we just met with a
couple of different roovers. We signed a contract yesterday. Hopefully
somebody is coming out this week to do a more
extensive repair before the roof actually gets replaced. But it
(12:10):
is one of those things if you've got an aging,
you know, roof, you know, definitely maybe it's worth, you know,
bringing somebody out to do an inspection. If this isn't
something you feel comfortable getting on your roof and taking
a look at, you know, I mean think most people
you know, kind of depending on the size of their home.
But if it's if it's outside of your scope of
comfortable you know, to be on a roof or you
don't really know what you're looking for, you really don't
want the problem because I mean, now we've got two problems.
(12:32):
We've got a roof problem that we're going to get
solved in the short term, but then once that gets solved,
now I've got a dry wall and ceiling issue that
has to get repaired. And so it's just you know,
really you know, I mean what we say, one problem
can can lead to another really quickly.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and that whole inspection thing. That sounds
like another episode.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Oh well yes, because we I mean, we had somebody
who was very nice and went up and did some
calking and stuff like that, and it helped because the
the the draining wasn't as bad, that coming through wasn't
as bad. And then somebody else came up and put
a tarp on, which promptly blew off like thirty six
hours later, and so you know, now that line of defense,
(13:15):
you know, was somewhat gone. So we yeah, we in theory,
we cannot get somebody out here quick quick enough.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Yeah, we still have a lot of rainy days, I think,
you know, rainy months.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
If you will.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Yeah, we've got Yeah, we've got some stuff to do.
But like we said, you know, we said, you know,
if you if you're comfortable to get up on the
roof inspect it yourself. You're looking for cracks, You're looking
for the granules that have you know, maybe maybe you
noticed and fall you were sweeping up a lot of
granules in your driveway, you know, when you were raking.
That's a sign the roof's getting old. Yeah, I mean,
that's that's the way of knowing it without getting up there,
(13:45):
and then you can also if you happen to you know,
good set of binoculars, if you've got a drone. I mean,
there's other ways to kind of see what's going on
up there, you know, But realistically, if that's just not
your thing, it's well worth it, you know, to get
somebody out there to take a take a look.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Next thing you want to inspect is your siding. If
you have vinyl siding on your home, you want to
inspect that to make sure the winter winds haven't pulled
any siding you know, off the house or loosened it.
I can say right now, looking out my kitchen window,
I've spotted some siding that's pulling away from our neighbors home,
and I'm like, do I tell him? Does he know
about this? Because I can see it when I'm doing
the dishes. You know, after reviewing your siding, you know,
(14:24):
for anything that's looser damage, you know, fix that first.
And then we recommend you know, cleaning your siding. And
you can do this, especially if you've got vinyl siding,
with just warm, soapy water. You know, a brush and
a hose is really all it's going to take. And
again like what you said with the windows. After washing
it off, make sure you're rinsing it with clean water,
you know, so you get any you know, you know
in film left behind, and if there are any hard
(14:45):
to reach areas up higher higher, you know, using one
of those long handled either car wash brushes or window
washing brushes, you know, it can be a way to
get to that. So vinyl siding is probably the easier
of the siding materials to clean. What about those who have,
like say, woodside.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Yeah, with wood siding, it is just a little bit
more involved. You do want to start out with that
inspection to be sure that no boards have pulled away,
you know from the winds. Same thing there, but since
wood contracts and expanse with the seasons, it can pull
on the cock you know, like around windows and that
type of thing. So so you do want to check
that out and make sure that is ye fixed and
(15:22):
then you can clean the woodsiding the same way you
can do the vinyl, Like you said, warm soapy.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Water, car washbrush, that times type of thing.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
I think sometimes with wood you get that you can
notice that mildew that builds up on the wood. So
you can buy like a mildew fungus type of remover
and use that to clean it. Just make sure that
you cover your plants below, because you don't want that
solution falling.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, that plants might kill things that you didn't intend to.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Kill your landscape. It didn't got newly right.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
And another quick note here, and I think you touched.
I mean one of the things you touched on is
you look at the calking around the windows because yeah,
with the seasonal stress, you know, that goes there. And
before you take a hose and start doing a lot
of water or let's make sure anything that needs to
be re caught get sealed, you know, so that you've
got that. And if you're using you know, a pressure
washer or something like that, you know, be sure that
you're not you know, I know the thought would be
(16:11):
as well as it's gonna nail it with the pressure
washer and that's going to get everything off of there,
But what you're really potentially doing is just pushing water
into cracks and that can cause even more damage. So
just be be really careful when using a pressure washer
on something like that. You know, a little bit elbow
grease might serve you better than you know, a high
powered device.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Yeah, right, Yeah, I think that's a good tip for sure.
And also besides, and keep in mind that it needs
to be repainted about every five years and stained would
about every five to seven years. So also a clear
code of stain should be applied about every couple of years.
I'd rather have vinyl size. Just saying that makes me
just want vinyl size.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, it's well, it's kind of like the reason that
you know, the composite ducks have become so popular, right,
I mean, because the same thing if you're using wood
like a duck material, we know, the same thing happens.
It's exposed to the element it needs to you know,
there's a lot of you know, ongoing maintenance that needs
to happen.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
With that, Yeah, and while you're going around the home,
you know, if you have a brick home, and and
many of us have homes that might be a combination
of materials brick and siding or brick you know, and
something else, be sure you're checking the brick on your
home as well. Now, you know, bricks are certainly a
hardy material, they're relatively maintenance free, but you still do
want to take a look for any you know, signs
of deterioration, you know, mold, mildew damage, you know, do
(17:26):
you have any you know, any of the mortar that's crumbling,
you know, anything like that that you just feel like
you need to address. It's still good to take a
look at the brick as well.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, yeah, you know.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
And and an example of this is if there's one
side of your home that gets you know, very a
little sunlight, you know, a little to no sunlight, and
maybe there's some vegetation over there that's kind of the
era you would be looking for. This type of thing.
You're looking for that moss, mold, and mildew. And then
a solution of one cup of bleach with a gallon
of water usually does work for cleaning that off if
(17:57):
you have that on the bricks, and.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah, and then and then it looks nice and fresh
and clean. So we kind of gone high. We've gone
to the roof and the gutters, and we've kind of
worked our way down through siding and brick and probably
typically what most people have on the sides of their home.
So now here we are at ground level, and it's
time to look at your foundation. And some things to
look out for here are cracks. Now, if you see
(18:18):
a hairline crack, I mean really hairline, it's like literally
the size of a strand of hair. You know, those
can be common and they're usually not a major concern.
If you have larger cracks something you know that experts
would say are wider than a quarter of an inch,
or ones that are widening over time, you know, now
you could be you know, there could be some indications
of some structural issues issues and horizontal cracks are even
(18:43):
more serious than vertical ones, and that may suggest pressure
from the soil or water damage. And you know, like
you had mentioned Pam, if you're not taking care of
down swells and gutters and you know water is pooling
or standing or hitting your foundation, I mean, this is
where it's going to start to potentially show up in
some of these crack issues.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Is going to be how you know that it is
that you've got those issues?
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Other things to observe around your foundation are any gaps
between the foundation and exterior walls because that could signal
some shifting or saddling. And you do want to work
look for pooled water around the foundation because that can
lead to erosion and leak. So again, it's kind of
some of the same things we've been talking about. And
the soil grading should slope away from your foundation to
(19:26):
avoid this pooling. So I think that's another good thing
when you're out there looking around your foundation, make sure
that your grading is sloping away. I think over time,
even at our house, even roads and evens out so
you know, sometimes just putting more dirt, you know, and
grading it away you know, can.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Help with that.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
It can. And we did a little bit of grading
at the new house last year and it twisted an
ankle a couple of times the morning. Uh, if you're
in flip flops that aren't very supportive, that can be
an issue. But I mean, we really needed to grade
it away because we were in kind of a wet
landy type air and so water it's it's it's it
kind of pools pretty easily, especially in the water season,
(20:04):
so we absolutely needed to do some grading to get
that away. But you know, then, yeah, just be careful
you're wearing supportive shoes as you're walking around so you
don't unintendedly, you know, cause some other damage to your person.
And while you're safely on the ground, you also want
to inspect your driveways, your walkways, any paths that are
around your home, you know, freezing and thawing, you know,
(20:25):
are rough on concrete and ashphalt.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Yes, and ashphalt can be patched. It can be patched.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
And if you have pavers, those can easily be you know,
pushed back into place or you know, replaced. They can
be repositioned fairly easily. But damage concrete may need to
be replaced entirely. So you know, again, if there's.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Anything that needs, you know to be addressed, you know,
time to do it, yep.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
And then while you're still outside, take the time to
inspect decks, patios, porches, stairs, railings. I mean, we're really
kind of taking a look at at everything again for
anything that's loose, anything that looks like it's had some deterioration.
For decks, you want to be on the lookout for
any nails that maybe have popped up on your boards
that have come loose and tap them back down. You
don't want to trip on them. You definitely don't want
(21:12):
to be out there with bare feet and discover a loose,
you know, nail that has come up that may or
may not involve a TETNA shot, depending on how up
to date you are on things. And if you're like me,
I don't like shots. I always politely decline the doctor
when they ask me if I want the updated tetanus
I'm like, nope, if I have an issue, I'll come.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
But once even inspected the deck, you know, sweep it.
You can get all the debris that is collected during
the winter. Again, you know, much like you're siding, you
want to clean it with a mild cleaner. Typically a
good you know, stiff bristled brush you know, designed to
clean a deck will work just fine. And again, if
you're using a power washer, be sure to set it
on a low pressure setting. When it comes to your
decks as well, m h.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
And remember open decks and wood fences do need to
be treated every four to six years, depending on how
much exposure they get to the sun and rain. So
if your deck is due to be treated after inspecting
and cleaning it, now is the time to stay and
steal it.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
I'm so excited I can smile this year on this
one because part of moving now, this was an expensive
way to not put a new duck on the old house.
The old house is to move, but we moved and
put a duck on the new house. So yay, this
is not something I have to do this year. All
I can do is get out the room and sweep
it clean. And I'm good this year with.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
That, So lucky.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Yes, we've actually gotten to the point where we actually
do it every year. Our deck is so old and
we actually are replacing boards as you go those rotted boards.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Putting ruins in and stating just all.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Over the place is like an annual project.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Now, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
And if you keep your grill outside on the deck
and you haven't used it in a while, you might
want to open that little sucker up and see if
there's any critters that have found their way inside. When
you go to use the grill, you don't want to
find a small mast that may need to be removed
and you have to do some clean up. If you've
got you know, meat already to go on the grill,
that's not the time you want to find out you've
got some other kind of meat. Yeah, you've got an
(23:02):
appetizer sitting and yeah, so keeping your large yeah, you
know your yard looking great requires some attention, and that
you know you want to pay attention to your to
your landscaping as well.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
First up, you know, cut back all tram and vegetation
and overgrown bushes from structures. If you have limbs and
leaves that are you know, too close to the house,
they can actually cut into your house's paint. So you
don't want to have to deal with having to repaint
areas where branches are scratching out the paint. That's going
to save you some time in mind, for sure. And
then now is a good time to put down your
(23:35):
first application of fertilizer on your lawn and maybe in
some of your trees and shoves if they do need that.
You can line up a service to do this, or
you can absolutely do it yourself if you have your
own fertilizer spreader. That's actually how we do it. We
just put ours down. Yeah this past weekend I think
we did, and it's rained in.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
So yeah, I was just saying, we need to get
some more grassy because we had to do some you know,
with all the work that was done with the dock
and so other stuff. A lot of grass trampled last year.
And so while they did, while they did, you know,
put seed down, you know, and it took it, didn't.
You know, there's still spots that are pretty bare. So
I was just saying, we need to do we need
to do some of some of that. Yeah, and then
you know, while again while we're still outside, because there's obviously,
(24:13):
as you can see, a lot to do with you know,
looking at your house, you know from the exterior in
the spring, you also want to inspect your outdoor faucets
and your sprinkler heads. Make sure there's no cracks by
those faucets. You know, when you're ready, you know, run
the sprinkler system, you know, through all the zones. You
make sure that you're walking the property. You want to
see if there's any sprinkler heads that are broken or damaged.
(24:34):
And you know, I know historically in our experienced sprinkler
heads always need a few tweaks. I don't think there's
ever been a season where something on the sprinkler head
didn't need to be addressed.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Yeah, no way.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
And I don't know how it happens from you when
you shut them off in October to April or whatever,
but something always happens, you know, in that time frame.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah, I'm not even running the lawn more over them
at that point. But yeah, something, yeah, something happens, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Exactly, and make sure that you do a just the
head so they're not spreading the street or the sidewalks.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
You don't want to be paying money to water the sidewalks.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
I mean usually the water bill's expensive enough.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Yeah, all right, we don't need to be wasting it there.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Don't need to be wasting it. All right, So you
know kind of we as we said at the beginning
of the show, you know, spring is that roller coaster
kind of a transitional season, and you want to make
sure your heating and cooling system is ready to also
do the transition from heating to cooling. So let's start
with the easiest step in this process, and that's really
just making a call.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Right, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
First step is, you know, schedule your air conditioning service.
You know, your best to hire a licensed professional to
service equipment before the start of summer. But some things
you can do while you're waiting for you that appointment.
You can change your furnace filter. Now is a perfect
time to do that. You actually want to do that
at least once a.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Season, Yeah, you know, I think sometimes I recommend sometimes
even more.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Yeah, yeah, but at least for sure at least one time.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
And this is going to help you get the longest
life out of your cooling system and keep it running
as possible. And you can also visually inspect the outside
unit and remove any of those leaves or winter debris
that may.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Have lodged, you know, in or near around the unit.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Yeah. I mean, if you followed our fault tip, you
would have covered it, yeah, with some type of terarfer structure,
or you know, some type of a thing and yeah,
and used a bunch of cleards so that it didn't
blow down in the street. But if you didn't do that.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Yes, then you have to remove your twins.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Then you have to Yeah, then you have to remove
all of that. And this brings to mind a couple
of things. You know, some people are very meticulous with
how they care for all of their things, and they
have the people come out and inspect it and do
all that. Then there's others that, well, I'm going to
flip the switch and as long as it turns on,
we're good. Something to keep in mind is that just
because the air conditioner cools things doesn't necessarily mean it's
(26:44):
working efficiently. So you do want to get that annual
service done. Home inspectors see a lot of air conditioning
systems that are just not taking care of They may
be riped to be tagged for maintenance during an inspection.
So for for especially for those that are thinking of
selling your house maybe this coming season, just because you
know you flipped it on and say, hey it works,
doesn't mean it's going to pass an inspection when somebody
(27:06):
gets in there kind of looks under the hood with it, okay,
So again a good reason to call, to call, you know,
an expert. And I've had a home inspector tell me
recently that if the furnace and air conditioning units have
recently been inspected, if somebody's come out and you know,
just looked at them, done some you know, minimal maintenance
to them, you know they're going to take that as
a seal of approval. They weigh that, you know, when
(27:27):
they're looking at it as well, to say, hey, this
has been well maintained. Every buyer wants to see that
in the house that they're yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, they're looking at it right then.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Yeah, and stay tuned because our air conditioner currently is
not hooked up. Because I'm just a bevy of information
for these types of shows late content because we had
we had to unhooked it last year when they were
doing the grating around the house and ours is older,
It's like twenty years old, and so the guys like,
(27:56):
do you really I mean it was several hundred dollars
to have this unhooked. Oh my goodness, yeah, and it
was going to cost more to rehook it. And he's like,
are you sure you want me to do this at
this price tag? Because yours is so old, I'm not
sure you're going to have it much longer. So we
opted last year. When everything finally got done, it didn't
make sense to hook it back up. We were kind
(28:16):
of past the heavy air conditioning season, so we're like,
just put it back in place and get it out
of the yar, but we're not going to pay to
hook it up. So now now here we are on
the cusp of you know, spring summer, and we're like,
you know, we really don't have an air conditioner. You know,
we technically have a unit outside outside, but it's not
hooked up. Is this something we're getting ready to buy?
Because if we are, then it's probably a furnace air
(28:38):
conditioning do all. I mean, that's where if you're.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Gonna do it.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
I mean, that's kind of the way it goes. Furnace
has been working fine, So we're having the kind of
husband wife. I like fresh air and I can handle
the heat. I'm perfectly fine opening windows.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yeah, I would probably be with you on that. My
husband be like, oh.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
No, yes, yeah, that's the conversation too.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
I go.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
You know, there's a lot of shade in the backyard
by dinner time, so yeah, you just sit out there
and you get the breeze. So stay tuned. We're going
to see how this one works out, how this one
works out. So now that we've kind of moved a
little bit more inside the house, now we're looking at
you know, heating and cooling and things like that. There
are some other things to do inside your home as
well during the spring. So what else can they be doing? Panmas.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Yeah, so you can inspect your bathroom and kitchen, inspect
the cock and you know, recock any areas that are needed,
you know, in your bathroom and kitchen. And you also
want to be sure to check your ventilation systems, make
sure they're working properly. So I'm talking about like the
exhaust fans. They're responsible for taking away warm moisture from
(29:42):
your home. So if the moist air isn't vented properly,
it can lead to serious issues. So you want to
I guess the theme is trying to avoid, right, I
got one.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
On this shoe, But go ahead and finish your thought.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
To help ensure that they are working properly, you know,
clean them to remove any duster build up they do.
You tend to get dusty up there. And you also
want to vacuum and clean off any refrigerator coils, as
the tempts rize, refrigerator will be working harder to keep
things cool.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
And I think that's one that is on most people's list.
Yeah right, I mean all. I think exhaust fans in
general are not necessarily high on anybody's list of things
to be thinking about, but specifically the refrigerator. But let's
go back to those exhaust fans, shall we in the
ventilation because we had a plumber out to the was
about a month ago because I noticed something that didn't
look quite right and it just seemed to happen overnight,
(30:32):
you know, in the bathroom above the mirror, and all
of a sudden, I'm like looking up and I'm like,
I don't remember that kind of slight discoloration there. And
so it turned out that the exhaust fan in the bathroom,
in the piping, you know, that was you know, in
above the ceiling. Apparently something wasn't sealed properly, and so
there was a little bit, you know, kind of like
the in the PVC piping, there's a little bit of
(30:53):
moisture that was kind of seeping out, and when it
was cold, it had frozen. Oh my goodness, and so
there was like the big ice glob that was on there.
But then as we started to have those kind of
teaser nicer days, it apparently started to melt. And so
so that's what we were saying. That one we caught
relatively early. I mean, there's still a little bit of
(31:14):
something up there. We caught that, you know, relatively early.
The plumber, you know, she went around and looked at
other stuff. She goes, no, this seems to be the
only you know, for whatever reason she was, it's probably
been like that since they built the house. You know,
they didn't put something there. She was and you know,
over time, things you know, you know, vibrate, adjusts, you know,
and whatnot. She double checked it, and I trust her.
I'm sure we're good moving forward. But again, who would
(31:35):
have thought.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Yeah, I would never think that. I've never heard that before.
And leave it to me.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
You know. Again, I'm happy my life is entertainment for
other people. Because my husband went up in the attic
and he took a picture. He came down and goes, okay,
look at check this out, you know type of a thing. Yeah,
and you know, while he'll do a lot of repairs,
he just says, you know, water, He goes, I could
do it and I'd probably be fine, but that's what
(32:01):
you don't want to mess with it. I'd rather have
a professional, you know, get up there and fixture. We're
taking care.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Yeah, I agree. Yeah, you don't want to mess with
the water. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
So okay. So again, making sure ventilation and dust free
and all of that, like Pam said, is good. And
much like you check the exterior foundation of your home,
on the inside, you want to look for signs of
moisture in your basement, your attic, or your crawl spaces.
If you see anything that looks suspicious, by all means,
reach out to a professional like we've said before, or
spring means rain, often heavy rain lately, it seems, and
(32:32):
you want to ensure that your sump pump is working correctly.
And then on the outside of the home, the sump
pump exit pipe is moving that water away from your home,
that it's not just dumping it literally right outside your house.
I mean, it's doing part of its job, but you
really want it to be you know, away from the house.
And you know, lately, we've had several flooding events in
(32:53):
our area. I think Dearborn certainly seems to be an
area that keeps kind of unfortunately getting is the recipient
heavy rains and flooding that comes with it. But they're
not the only area. So you know, again, making sure
your sump is working and getting water away is really important.
And then we always recommend that, you know, as a
season changed, and you know, some people do it when
(33:14):
the time change weekends. You can do it when you're
doing your seasonal home maintenance. Get those batteries and your
smoke detectors and your carbon monoxide detectors, change those and
make sure that that's working properly.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
Yeah, and then kind of on the same topic, a
good time this is a good time to check the
gauge on your fire extinguishers. Make sure that pressure gauge
is still full in an operational range.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
You should be able.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
You should be able to easily access to extinguisher, and
all family members should know where they are located.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
That'd be a good test for your kids tonight when
you came home.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Right, yeah, I bet you they don't.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Yeah, let's sen a fire broke out. You know where
you're going extinguisher, Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
And if you do have, I mean you should have
obviously detectors and extinguishers on each floor of your home,
including a basement if you have one. Garages, sheds, workshops
tend to be full of a lot of combustible materials.
That can be another place you wouldn't have thought to
have a fire extinguisher handy, but it could. It could,
you know, work well to have one there, and if
(34:17):
you tend to work with tools in these places, even
more so, because it's just kind of a potentially volatile mix.
And we're going to leave you with a final bonus tip,
which is more of a home environmental issue. It's important
to get rid of any of that standing water. We've
talked about. You know, water comes in waves, so to speak.
It can stand around for a day or two before
it kind of evaporates. But standing water leads to the
(34:41):
state bird, the mosquito, and then they're not only an irritant,
but they can pose a health concern as well.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Yeah, yeah, they really can.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
And the best way to prevent mosquitos in the first
place is to remove any standing water. So think about
you know where that could be in your yard, things
like bird bass, wading pools, maybe pet bowls. You know,
your gutters if they haven't been cleaned, you could have
your water standing in there. So any of those are
going to make for a mosquito habitat.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
Right, I mean. And then there's then there's some other
things that may not be out yet but probably will
be in the coming weeks, like canoes or kayaks if
you store them outside, and you know, and depending on
how you store them, you know, if there's some you know, water,
you want to make sure that you're getting that out there,
you'll put you know, put something over it you know
it rains, or store it, you know where things can drain.
You know, that would be a good thing to tell.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Oh yeah, and don't forget.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
They only need one tablespoon of water to become a
problem in your yard. So that could be like a
like a cap off of.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
A water bottle. That's all it takes.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
That's all it takes.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Yeah, which isn't Which isn't much.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
No, that's not much.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
No, it's not much at all. And we're certainly not
saying not to have bird baths, you know, or stuff
like that in your backyard. You'll live your life, but
you just want to be diligent. If we've had a
heavy rain, I mean even like I noticed it in
in our yard on one of the covers for our
patio furniture. Like, if it's a heavy rain, it kind
of sinks a little bit on the fire table, and
if it gets too weighty, it kind of sinks in
and then it becomes its own little cool and we'll
(36:06):
consistently go out there and you know, tap it out,
you know, lift up the ad and you know, make
sure we're getting rid of that.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Well, thanks to Pambalante, our marketing director for Remas of
Southeastern Michigan, for being our guest today. It was nice
to have you here.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Yes, it was fun.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
And for those that were listening. Thanks for joining us.
Hopefully the Spring home Maintenance review of sorts has been
helpful for you. Maybe there's a few items that weren't
on your list, and if nothing else, maybe this is
motivating you to get out there and start tackling some
of these items so that you can get them out
of the way in early springs, so when the weather
really breaks and it's nice and sunny, you can hit
(36:41):
the golf course or the boat or the bike or
whatever it is that you enjoy doing at that time
of year.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Get it done now, Get it done now.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
And off your list. Thanks again, we'll be chatting with
you soon. We hope you enjoy today's episode. Don't forget
to subscribe, write a review, or rate the show, as
it helps us reach more people. You can also follow
us on Facebook and Instagram.
You are listening to the Remax real Estate Insights Show
where you get real talk by real agents. Walk to
you by Remax of Southeastern Michigan. Welcome to the Remax
real Estate Insights Podcast. I'm Janette Schneider. I'm your host,
and we're happy to have you joining us today. We're
going to be talking about something every homeowner needs to tackle,
(00:21):
and that is spring home maintenance. It seems that this year,
the concept of spring is really more of a suggestion
than an actual season. Here in Michigan. We're in here
in what is it April? What a day is it today?
The eighth that we're recording this thirteen? Yeah, the winchill
is thirteen and we had a winter wind blowing us
in the door literally. But I do think that over
(00:43):
the weekend, temperatures go back into the sixties. So I
guess that's what we get here in Michigan. We get
a little bit of that seesaw. You know that we
have this roller coaster of temperatures, but is actually, I
guess maybe placed to our benefit, because really it indicates
how the weather can be tough on homes. If we
think it's tough on us as people, what do I
wear what am I doing. Your home is dealing with
(01:04):
all of this too, making spring home maintenance even more important,
from checking from maybe damage that did occur over the
winner to preparing your home for the warmer months that
are ahead. We have got a checklist of important tasks
to help keep your home in top shape. And of course,
if you are considering selling your home in the near future,
what we're sharing with you today is going to give
you a jump start on that to do list. And
(01:26):
joining me is Pam Blonte. She is the marketing director
with Remax of Southeastern Michigan. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Pam Tonette. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
You're more than welcome. Now. You are not an agent,
but I've been asking every agent how they got into
real estate. I won't ask you that since you're not licensed,
but how did you land with a career at rates?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Actually, well, my background is marketing, so I had been
in a different industry altogether prior to Remax, but in
between and that was more like the technology industry.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Believe it, not technology to real estate.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
But and technology over here, right, and tech followed you
over here, yes, but taking a little bit of time
off to raise the family and then coming back to work.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
It was kind of the opportunity was there, and that's
where no looking.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Back, right, no looking back. Well, like we just mentioned,
seasonal wear and tear, especially in places like Michigan with
extreme temperature swings, can cause cracks leaks. I'm going to
share a little bit about that later, and weather related damage,
especially to the exterior of your home. Your roof, you'r siding,
your foundation tends to take the brunt of these seasonal changes,
(02:40):
and ignoring these issues really doesn't do you any good.
It just leads to more damage. Beyond these issues, what
are some other ways that springhole maintenance provides value?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Yeah, you know, simple seasonal updates your landscaping, adding fresh
paint your home, cleaning your windows. Those can all make
a difference in helping home look always fresh and updated.
I think a couple of things you know to note
when you're kind of thinking about this topic and in
real estate is doing these things consistently and annually, we are.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Going to help you retain the market value of your home. Right.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
And then the other thing is when you are ready
to sell, if you've kind of kept on this to
do list, it's a little bit more manageable because you
don't then have to do all of this at one
time on time.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yes, it is. It's a little bit like that proverbial
you know, what is it, you know, eating the elephant.
It's a bite at a time, you know. And if
you're doing a little bit every year with you keeping
the landscape fresh, like you said, okay, this year, the
front door needs to be painted. And if you're doing
a little bits at a time, you can spread not
only the sweat equity, but the cost of doing it
out over time as well.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Yeah, So we recommend, you know, as we get in
kind of to our checklist, we're going to recommend that
you focus on the outside first and work your way
inside because realistically, if you have a problem on the
outside of your home, more than likely it's going to
lead to problems on the inside. And if you end
up finding an issue, need to dress better to find
it out. Now, let's get on top of it. A
(04:03):
leaky roof really can't wait the new bathroom vanity ken,
So when we're talking about spring maintenance, it's like it
there's kind of the want to dos versus need to dos.
And yeah, the cosmetic always seems to trump, you know,
because that's the fun stuff, right right, But it's the
stuff that you need to do that you need to
pay attention to. So we're gonna start the list with
some relatively easy things you can do just to get
(04:25):
started in a good place to begin as attacks that
yields results you know that you can see in a
joy immediately. And to your point, that's kind of cleaning
windows and screens and things like that.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, And actually I really love this one.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
I love washing my windows. I do this one every sing.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
I didn't tell you that pans a little odd, but whatever, I.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Don't know about anything else on the list, this one
I definitely will do. But yeah, washing your windows inside
and out really does brighten up your home. So to
clean the extuire of your windows, use a solution of
mild vinegar and water. I actually use like window and
one yeah together, that seems to work good. But if
you have any stubborn stains, you can add a little
dish soap to that and then always be sure to
(05:07):
rinse well so you don't get that hazy yeah everything,
Yeah exactly. I usually I use a squeegee, you know,
and just you know, push the water down that way,
so it helps. It helps with the streaks and that
type of thing. Don't forget to clean your screens as well.
And and also while you're thinking windows, think about your
door entries and doors as well. Wipe those down and
(05:28):
also inspect your screens. You know, while you're in this process,
you know, expect those screens. You know, they might have
some tears or holes. You know, this is a good
time to take care of that and get them repaired.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, before you want to actually put them up. And
then you've got the little flying flying things.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
So in adding you know, the other thing to is
you know, seals and uh, you know, calking around doors
and stuff like that. You know, adding cock to windows
and doors can have an added benefit, not just you know,
not only because it tightens all those things up, so
you know, whether you're trying to keep the warm air
in you know, as we're still having the furnace on,
or keeping cooler air in once you start, you know,
the air conditioner. It also does some noise reduction and
(06:09):
I think that that's an unintended maybe consequence people don't
don't think about there. Yeah, so spring spring brings out bugs.
We just talked about that. Another item that you may
want to add to the doors, and this is not
something I think that gets a lot of attention, is
most doors have those kind of rubber sweeps at the
bottom that's meant to kind of seal and you know,
again keep you know, keep air and other things out,
(06:30):
but ants and stuff can easily get in there. So
these are inexpensive. They fill that little gap between the
bottom of your door and the threshold, and those can
really help with keeping little insects out. So again, something
you may not think about when you're thinking, you know,
kind of spring maintenance, but something to put in there.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
Right when you're looking at those windows and doors, perfect
time to.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Check that out.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Absolutely. The next item that can be good to tackle
early in the spring cleaning and we're and we're trying
to start to slow and easy stuff that you can
easily do before we get to ladders and other stuff
like that. But cleaning out the garage can be an
another good place to go.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yes, Yes, and this this tip I do love.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I do like this one as well because we do
the fall maintenance sometimes that we talk about bringing out
your snowblower and troubles so with this one. I love
this because this is where you get to store weight
them out of sight. So think about you know, stirring
your shovel, snowblowers and your ice mouth, that type of thing,
and then.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Pull out your lawn mower and put those to the forefront.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Lawn mower, any landscaping tools, maybe your fertilizer, any summer
recreation items you might have. You know, yourings out and
you know, and it is true that you know that
winter salt and grime does get tracked into your garage,
so you know, really sweep it out, wash it out
so that you're not tracking that into your house.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah. Absolutely, I hear the crunch, Like what you get
out of the car. We just swept it a couple
of weeks ago just to keep it clean. But it's
like it came back because we've had bad weather, you know,
and so that, like you said, the salt, the grime,
it all comes back. And I heard it this weekend
on I'm like, oh, we need to sweep it again.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
And your foyer yeah yeah, all of that now that
you're up and moving around. So we've got you up,
We've got your cleaning windows, we got you out in
the garage, you know, doing a little things. And like
I said, these are a little bit of the easier items,
but you know, hopefully that's got some momentum and some
mojo going to get you move in the times come
to get out that ladder and inspect your gutters and
your down spouts. This may not be necessarily the favorite task.
(08:22):
I don't know. Do you love this one? She's she tapped.
This is not necessarily a favorite task, but boy, isn't
an important one?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah? Yeah, it really is.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
You do want to get up there look for leftover
twigs or leaves, anything that's found its way into your gutters,
and you know, make sure that you move them and.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Clear them out.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
I think you know, when we talk about fall maintenance,
we kind of talk about the same thing, right, right,
But there can be left over or additional leaves that.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Because some stuff has fall. I mean there's a lot
of trees that don't seem to fall until after the
snow is on the ground and you're probably putting a
ladder up then.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
So yeah, yeah, right, absolutely, so you know, get up
there clean them out because just remember, poor and improper
drainage does cause can cause damage to your home Ultimately
there's gonna be no place for that water to go,
and it's going to overflow onto your foundation.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
It can cause problems.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
But also check for loose and leaky gutters and ensure
that your downspouts are positioned to drain the water away
from your homes foundation again, because you know, if it's not,
if there's no place for that water to go, it's
just gonna sit at your foundation, then you're asking for
you know, expensive problems, but not.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Just yeah problem, yeah, where the cost involves zeros and
maybe a comma. Yeah, so yeah, nobody, nobody wants that.
And you know, like you said, we know that this
time of the year, there's bound to be rain in
the forecast. You know, last week we had a couple
a couple of days of significant Kent rain and I
mean heavy rain, and you know we know that that's
part of the spring season. And then you know this
(09:51):
week we're getting more of a snow mix. But but
we know, you know, rain is going to be there,
and again let's get those gutters cleared. There's we've had
a lot of high wind days as well, which is
going to take some little twiggy you know things off
of trees and throw that into gutters. So it really
is good to get up there and do that. And
then while you're out there, it's a good time to
inspect the roof. The roof really is your home's first
(10:11):
line of defense. It protects everything else, right, and it
protects the inside, it protects your belonging, So it's really
an important thing to do. What are folks looking for
when we're talking about the roof.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Yeah, when you're up there, you want to be looking
for missing shingoles, look for any signs of warping, cracking,
or curved or loose shingles, and be sure to pay
attention to the flashing around the skylights and events as well.
And then you know, while you're up there, check out
your chimney. You want to look for any looser, missing bricks,
any peeling or deterioration around the ceiling or the seal
(10:44):
at the base of the chimney because weather can affect
that as well.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
Really, oh, do you have a story to share? Yeah,
Pam knows I have a story to share, and we
discovered that, yes we are, roof has a leak. We
know if in for the it may have been listening
you know, consistently. We bought a house last year, so
we've only lived in the house a year, and we're
learning all sorts of things. We're learning on one hand
(11:09):
that I think the inspector didn't do the entire job
they were hired to do at the front end of this,
because they while they did go up in the attic,
it has become I think glaringly apparent that they did
not go all the way around the attic because apparently
the problem that's there has been there a while. We
just didn't know it was there and we discovered it
(11:29):
when what was it been about a week and a
half ago. We're watching TV and all of a sudden
we see a water line from the ceiling all the
way down to the fireplace and it's like a two
story you know, part of the house. And subsequent rains
over the last couple of weeks, it keeps happening. Even
though we had somebody come out to try to do
some you know, remedial repair, you know, to kind of
(11:50):
get us through and tarping, it's still getting through. So water.
Like we've said, whether it's down spouts, whether it's the roof,
it's a tricky it's a tricky substance. It's gonna it's
gonna find its way. So we just met with a
couple of different roovers. We signed a contract yesterday. Hopefully
somebody is coming out this week to do a more
extensive repair before the roof actually gets replaced. But it
(12:10):
is one of those things if you've got an aging,
you know, roof, you know, definitely maybe it's worth, you know,
bringing somebody out to do an inspection. If this isn't
something you feel comfortable getting on your roof and taking
a look at, you know, I mean think most people
you know, kind of depending on the size of their home.
But if it's if it's outside of your scope of
comfortable you know, to be on a roof or you
don't really know what you're looking for, you really don't
want the problem because I mean, now we've got two problems.
(12:32):
We've got a roof problem that we're going to get
solved in the short term, but then once that gets solved,
now I've got a dry wall and ceiling issue that
has to get repaired. And so it's just you know,
really you know, I mean what we say, one problem
can can lead to another really quickly.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and that whole inspection thing. That sounds
like another episode.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Oh well yes, because we I mean, we had somebody
who was very nice and went up and did some
calking and stuff like that, and it helped because the
the the draining wasn't as bad, that coming through wasn't
as bad. And then somebody else came up and put
a tarp on, which promptly blew off like thirty six
hours later, and so you know, now that line of defense,
(13:15):
you know, was somewhat gone. So we yeah, we in theory,
we cannot get somebody out here quick quick enough.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Yeah, we still have a lot of rainy days, I think,
you know, rainy months.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
If you will.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Yeah, we've got Yeah, we've got some stuff to do.
But like we said, you know, we said, you know,
if you if you're comfortable to get up on the
roof inspect it yourself. You're looking for cracks, You're looking
for the granules that have you know, maybe maybe you
noticed and fall you were sweeping up a lot of
granules in your driveway, you know, when you were raking.
That's a sign the roof's getting old. Yeah, I mean,
that's that's the way of knowing it without getting up there,
(13:45):
and then you can also if you happen to you know,
good set of binoculars, if you've got a drone. I mean,
there's other ways to kind of see what's going on
up there, you know, But realistically, if that's just not
your thing, it's well worth it, you know, to get
somebody out there to take a take a look.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Next thing you want to inspect is your siding. If
you have vinyl siding on your home, you want to
inspect that to make sure the winter winds haven't pulled
any siding you know, off the house or loosened it.
I can say right now, looking out my kitchen window,
I've spotted some siding that's pulling away from our neighbors home,
and I'm like, do I tell him? Does he know
about this? Because I can see it when I'm doing
the dishes. You know, after reviewing your siding, you know,
(14:24):
for anything that's looser damage, you know, fix that first.
And then we recommend you know, cleaning your siding. And
you can do this, especially if you've got vinyl siding,
with just warm, soapy water. You know, a brush and
a hose is really all it's going to take. And
again like what you said with the windows. After washing
it off, make sure you're rinsing it with clean water,
you know, so you get any you know, you know
in film left behind, and if there are any hard
(14:45):
to reach areas up higher higher, you know, using one
of those long handled either car wash brushes or window
washing brushes, you know, it can be a way to
get to that. So vinyl siding is probably the easier
of the siding materials to clean. What about those who have,
like say, woodside.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Yeah, with wood siding, it is just a little bit
more involved. You do want to start out with that
inspection to be sure that no boards have pulled away,
you know from the winds. Same thing there, but since
wood contracts and expanse with the seasons, it can pull
on the cock you know, like around windows and that
type of thing. So so you do want to check
that out and make sure that is ye fixed and
(15:22):
then you can clean the woodsiding the same way you
can do the vinyl, Like you said, warm soapy.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Water, car washbrush, that times type of thing.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
I think sometimes with wood you get that you can
notice that mildew that builds up on the wood. So
you can buy like a mildew fungus type of remover
and use that to clean it. Just make sure that
you cover your plants below, because you don't want that
solution falling.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, that plants might kill things that you didn't intend to.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Kill your landscape. It didn't got newly right.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
And another quick note here, and I think you touched.
I mean one of the things you touched on is
you look at the calking around the windows because yeah,
with the seasonal stress, you know, that goes there. And
before you take a hose and start doing a lot
of water or let's make sure anything that needs to
be re caught get sealed, you know, so that you've
got that. And if you're using you know, a pressure
washer or something like that, you know, be sure that
you're not you know, I know the thought would be
(16:11):
as well as it's gonna nail it with the pressure
washer and that's going to get everything off of there,
But what you're really potentially doing is just pushing water
into cracks and that can cause even more damage. So
just be be really careful when using a pressure washer
on something like that. You know, a little bit elbow
grease might serve you better than you know, a high
powered device.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Yeah, right, Yeah, I think that's a good tip for sure.
And also besides, and keep in mind that it needs
to be repainted about every five years and stained would
about every five to seven years. So also a clear
code of stain should be applied about every couple of years.
I'd rather have vinyl size. Just saying that makes me
just want vinyl size.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, it's well, it's kind of like the reason that
you know, the composite ducks have become so popular, right,
I mean, because the same thing if you're using wood
like a duck material, we know, the same thing happens.
It's exposed to the element it needs to you know,
there's a lot of you know, ongoing maintenance that needs
to happen.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
With that, Yeah, and while you're going around the home,
you know, if you have a brick home, and and
many of us have homes that might be a combination
of materials brick and siding or brick you know, and
something else, be sure you're checking the brick on your
home as well. Now, you know, bricks are certainly a
hardy material, they're relatively maintenance free, but you still do
want to take a look for any you know, signs
of deterioration, you know, mold, mildew damage, you know, do
(17:26):
you have any you know, any of the mortar that's crumbling,
you know, anything like that that you just feel like
you need to address. It's still good to take a
look at the brick as well.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, yeah, you know.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
And and an example of this is if there's one
side of your home that gets you know, very a
little sunlight, you know, a little to no sunlight, and
maybe there's some vegetation over there that's kind of the
era you would be looking for. This type of thing.
You're looking for that moss, mold, and mildew. And then
a solution of one cup of bleach with a gallon
of water usually does work for cleaning that off if
(17:57):
you have that on the bricks, and.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah, and then and then it looks nice and fresh
and clean. So we kind of gone high. We've gone
to the roof and the gutters, and we've kind of
worked our way down through siding and brick and probably
typically what most people have on the sides of their home.
So now here we are at ground level, and it's
time to look at your foundation. And some things to
look out for here are cracks. Now, if you see
(18:18):
a hairline crack, I mean really hairline, it's like literally
the size of a strand of hair. You know, those
can be common and they're usually not a major concern.
If you have larger cracks something you know that experts
would say are wider than a quarter of an inch,
or ones that are widening over time, you know, now
you could be you know, there could be some indications
of some structural issues issues and horizontal cracks are even
(18:43):
more serious than vertical ones, and that may suggest pressure
from the soil or water damage. And you know, like
you had mentioned Pam, if you're not taking care of
down swells and gutters and you know water is pooling
or standing or hitting your foundation, I mean, this is
where it's going to start to potentially show up in
some of these crack issues.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Is going to be how you know that it is
that you've got those issues?
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Other things to observe around your foundation are any gaps
between the foundation and exterior walls because that could signal
some shifting or saddling. And you do want to work
look for pooled water around the foundation because that can
lead to erosion and leak. So again, it's kind of
some of the same things we've been talking about. And
the soil grading should slope away from your foundation to
(19:26):
avoid this pooling. So I think that's another good thing
when you're out there looking around your foundation, make sure
that your grading is sloping away. I think over time,
even at our house, even roads and evens out so
you know, sometimes just putting more dirt, you know, and
grading it away you know, can.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Help with that.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
It can. And we did a little bit of grading
at the new house last year and it twisted an
ankle a couple of times the morning. Uh, if you're
in flip flops that aren't very supportive, that can be
an issue. But I mean, we really needed to grade
it away because we were in kind of a wet
landy type air and so water it's it's it's it
kind of pools pretty easily, especially in the water season,
(20:04):
so we absolutely needed to do some grading to get
that away. But you know, then, yeah, just be careful
you're wearing supportive shoes as you're walking around so you
don't unintendedly, you know, cause some other damage to your person.
And while you're safely on the ground, you also want
to inspect your driveways, your walkways, any paths that are
around your home, you know, freezing and thawing, you know,
(20:25):
are rough on concrete and ashphalt.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Yes, and ashphalt can be patched. It can be patched.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
And if you have pavers, those can easily be you know,
pushed back into place or you know, replaced. They can
be repositioned fairly easily. But damage concrete may need to
be replaced entirely. So you know, again, if there's.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Anything that needs, you know to be addressed, you know,
time to do it, yep.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
And then while you're still outside, take the time to
inspect decks, patios, porches, stairs, railings. I mean, we're really
kind of taking a look at at everything again for
anything that's loose, anything that looks like it's had some deterioration.
For decks, you want to be on the lookout for
any nails that maybe have popped up on your boards
that have come loose and tap them back down. You
don't want to trip on them. You definitely don't want
(21:12):
to be out there with bare feet and discover a loose,
you know, nail that has come up that may or
may not involve a TETNA shot, depending on how up
to date you are on things. And if you're like me,
I don't like shots. I always politely decline the doctor
when they ask me if I want the updated tetanus
I'm like, nope, if I have an issue, I'll come.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
But once even inspected the deck, you know, sweep it.
You can get all the debris that is collected during
the winter. Again, you know, much like you're siding, you
want to clean it with a mild cleaner. Typically a
good you know, stiff bristled brush you know, designed to
clean a deck will work just fine. And again, if
you're using a power washer, be sure to set it
on a low pressure setting. When it comes to your
decks as well, m h.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
And remember open decks and wood fences do need to
be treated every four to six years, depending on how
much exposure they get to the sun and rain. So
if your deck is due to be treated after inspecting
and cleaning it, now is the time to stay and
steal it.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
I'm so excited I can smile this year on this
one because part of moving now, this was an expensive
way to not put a new duck on the old house.
The old house is to move, but we moved and
put a duck on the new house. So yay, this
is not something I have to do this year. All
I can do is get out the room and sweep
it clean. And I'm good this year with.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
That, So lucky.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Yes, we've actually gotten to the point where we actually
do it every year. Our deck is so old and
we actually are replacing boards as you go those rotted boards.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Putting ruins in and stating just all.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Over the place is like an annual project.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Now, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
And if you keep your grill outside on the deck
and you haven't used it in a while, you might
want to open that little sucker up and see if
there's any critters that have found their way inside. When
you go to use the grill, you don't want to
find a small mast that may need to be removed
and you have to do some clean up. If you've
got you know, meat already to go on the grill,
that's not the time you want to find out you've
got some other kind of meat. Yeah, you've got an
(23:02):
appetizer sitting and yeah, so keeping your large yeah, you
know your yard looking great requires some attention, and that
you know you want to pay attention to your to
your landscaping as well.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
First up, you know, cut back all tram and vegetation
and overgrown bushes from structures. If you have limbs and
leaves that are you know, too close to the house,
they can actually cut into your house's paint. So you
don't want to have to deal with having to repaint
areas where branches are scratching out the paint. That's going
to save you some time in mind, for sure. And
then now is a good time to put down your
(23:35):
first application of fertilizer on your lawn and maybe in
some of your trees and shoves if they do need that.
You can line up a service to do this, or
you can absolutely do it yourself if you have your
own fertilizer spreader. That's actually how we do it. We
just put ours down. Yeah this past weekend I think
we did, and it's rained in.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
So yeah, I was just saying, we need to get
some more grassy because we had to do some you know,
with all the work that was done with the dock
and so other stuff. A lot of grass trampled last year.
And so while they did, while they did, you know,
put seed down, you know, and it took it, didn't.
You know, there's still spots that are pretty bare. So
I was just saying, we need to do we need
to do some of some of that. Yeah, and then
you know, while again while we're still outside, because there's obviously,
(24:13):
as you can see, a lot to do with you know,
looking at your house, you know from the exterior in
the spring, you also want to inspect your outdoor faucets
and your sprinkler heads. Make sure there's no cracks by
those faucets. You know, when you're ready, you know, run
the sprinkler system, you know, through all the zones. You
make sure that you're walking the property. You want to
see if there's any sprinkler heads that are broken or damaged.
(24:34):
And you know, I know historically in our experienced sprinkler
heads always need a few tweaks. I don't think there's
ever been a season where something on the sprinkler head
didn't need to be addressed.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Yeah, no way.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
And I don't know how it happens from you when
you shut them off in October to April or whatever,
but something always happens, you know, in that time frame.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah, I'm not even running the lawn more over them
at that point. But yeah, something, yeah, something happens, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Exactly, and make sure that you do a just the
head so they're not spreading the street or the sidewalks.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
You don't want to be paying money to water the sidewalks.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
I mean usually the water bill's expensive enough.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Yeah, all right, we don't need to be wasting it there.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Don't need to be wasting it. All right, So you
know kind of we as we said at the beginning
of the show, you know, spring is that roller coaster
kind of a transitional season, and you want to make
sure your heating and cooling system is ready to also
do the transition from heating to cooling. So let's start
with the easiest step in this process, and that's really
just making a call.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Right, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
First step is, you know, schedule your air conditioning service.
You know, your best to hire a licensed professional to
service equipment before the start of summer. But some things
you can do while you're waiting for you that appointment.
You can change your furnace filter. Now is a perfect
time to do that. You actually want to do that
at least once a.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Season, Yeah, you know, I think sometimes I recommend sometimes
even more.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Yeah, yeah, but at least for sure at least one time.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
And this is going to help you get the longest
life out of your cooling system and keep it running
as possible. And you can also visually inspect the outside
unit and remove any of those leaves or winter debris
that may.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Have lodged, you know, in or near around the unit.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Yeah. I mean, if you followed our fault tip, you
would have covered it, yeah, with some type of terarfer structure,
or you know, some type of a thing and yeah,
and used a bunch of cleards so that it didn't
blow down in the street. But if you didn't do that.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Yes, then you have to remove your twins.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Then you have to Yeah, then you have to remove
all of that. And this brings to mind a couple
of things. You know, some people are very meticulous with
how they care for all of their things, and they
have the people come out and inspect it and do
all that. Then there's others that, well, I'm going to
flip the switch and as long as it turns on,
we're good. Something to keep in mind is that just
because the air conditioner cools things doesn't necessarily mean it's
(26:44):
working efficiently. So you do want to get that annual
service done. Home inspectors see a lot of air conditioning
systems that are just not taking care of They may
be riped to be tagged for maintenance during an inspection.
So for for especially for those that are thinking of
selling your house maybe this coming season, just because you
know you flipped it on and say, hey it works,
doesn't mean it's going to pass an inspection when somebody
(27:06):
gets in there kind of looks under the hood with it, okay,
So again a good reason to call, to call, you know,
an expert. And I've had a home inspector tell me
recently that if the furnace and air conditioning units have
recently been inspected, if somebody's come out and you know,
just looked at them, done some you know, minimal maintenance
to them, you know they're going to take that as
a seal of approval. They weigh that, you know, when
(27:27):
they're looking at it as well, to say, hey, this
has been well maintained. Every buyer wants to see that
in the house that they're yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, they're looking at it right then.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
Yeah, and stay tuned because our air conditioner currently is
not hooked up. Because I'm just a bevy of information
for these types of shows late content because we had
we had to unhooked it last year when they were
doing the grating around the house and ours is older,
It's like twenty years old, and so the guys like,
(27:56):
do you really I mean it was several hundred dollars
to have this unhooked. Oh my goodness, yeah, and it
was going to cost more to rehook it. And he's like,
are you sure you want me to do this at
this price tag? Because yours is so old, I'm not
sure you're going to have it much longer. So we
opted last year. When everything finally got done, it didn't
make sense to hook it back up. We were kind
(28:16):
of past the heavy air conditioning season, so we're like,
just put it back in place and get it out
of the yar, but we're not going to pay to
hook it up. So now now here we are on
the cusp of you know, spring summer, and we're like,
you know, we really don't have an air conditioner. You know,
we technically have a unit outside outside, but it's not
hooked up. Is this something we're getting ready to buy?
Because if we are, then it's probably a furnace air
(28:38):
conditioning do all. I mean, that's where if you're.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Gonna do it.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
I mean, that's kind of the way it goes. Furnace
has been working fine, So we're having the kind of
husband wife. I like fresh air and I can handle
the heat. I'm perfectly fine opening windows.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Yeah, I would probably be with you on that. My
husband be like, oh.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
No, yes, yeah, that's the conversation too.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
I go.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
You know, there's a lot of shade in the backyard
by dinner time, so yeah, you just sit out there
and you get the breeze. So stay tuned. We're going
to see how this one works out, how this one
works out. So now that we've kind of moved a
little bit more inside the house, now we're looking at
you know, heating and cooling and things like that. There
are some other things to do inside your home as
well during the spring. So what else can they be doing? Panmas.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Yeah, so you can inspect your bathroom and kitchen, inspect
the cock and you know, recock any areas that are needed,
you know, in your bathroom and kitchen. And you also
want to be sure to check your ventilation systems, make
sure they're working properly. So I'm talking about like the
exhaust fans. They're responsible for taking away warm moisture from
(29:42):
your home. So if the moist air isn't vented properly,
it can lead to serious issues. So you want to
I guess the theme is trying to avoid, right, I
got one.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
On this shoe, But go ahead and finish your thought.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
To help ensure that they are working properly, you know,
clean them to remove any duster build up they do.
You tend to get dusty up there. And you also
want to vacuum and clean off any refrigerator coils, as
the tempts rize, refrigerator will be working harder to keep
things cool.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
And I think that's one that is on most people's list.
Yeah right, I mean all. I think exhaust fans in
general are not necessarily high on anybody's list of things
to be thinking about, but specifically the refrigerator. But let's
go back to those exhaust fans, shall we in the
ventilation because we had a plumber out to the was
about a month ago because I noticed something that didn't
look quite right and it just seemed to happen overnight,
(30:32):
you know, in the bathroom above the mirror, and all
of a sudden, I'm like looking up and I'm like,
I don't remember that kind of slight discoloration there. And
so it turned out that the exhaust fan in the bathroom,
in the piping, you know, that was you know, in
above the ceiling. Apparently something wasn't sealed properly, and so
there was a little bit, you know, kind of like
the in the PVC piping, there's a little bit of
(30:53):
moisture that was kind of seeping out, and when it
was cold, it had frozen. Oh my goodness, and so
there was like the big ice glob that was on there.
But then as we started to have those kind of
teaser nicer days, it apparently started to melt. And so
so that's what we were saying. That one we caught
relatively early. I mean, there's still a little bit of
(31:14):
something up there. We caught that, you know, relatively early.
The plumber, you know, she went around and looked at
other stuff. She goes, no, this seems to be the
only you know, for whatever reason she was, it's probably
been like that since they built the house. You know,
they didn't put something there. She was and you know,
over time, things you know, you know, vibrate, adjusts, you know,
and whatnot. She double checked it, and I trust her.
I'm sure we're good moving forward. But again, who would
(31:35):
have thought.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Yeah, I would never think that. I've never heard that before.
And leave it to me.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
You know. Again, I'm happy my life is entertainment for
other people. Because my husband went up in the attic
and he took a picture. He came down and goes, okay,
look at check this out, you know type of a thing. Yeah,
and you know, while he'll do a lot of repairs,
he just says, you know, water, He goes, I could
do it and I'd probably be fine, but that's what
(32:01):
you don't want to mess with it. I'd rather have
a professional, you know, get up there and fixture. We're
taking care.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Yeah, I agree. Yeah, you don't want to mess with
the water. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
So okay. So again, making sure ventilation and dust free
and all of that, like Pam said, is good. And
much like you check the exterior foundation of your home,
on the inside, you want to look for signs of
moisture in your basement, your attic, or your crawl spaces.
If you see anything that looks suspicious, by all means,
reach out to a professional like we've said before, or
spring means rain, often heavy rain lately, it seems, and
(32:32):
you want to ensure that your sump pump is working correctly.
And then on the outside of the home, the sump
pump exit pipe is moving that water away from your home,
that it's not just dumping it literally right outside your house.
I mean, it's doing part of its job, but you
really want it to be you know, away from the house.
And you know, lately, we've had several flooding events in
(32:53):
our area. I think Dearborn certainly seems to be an
area that keeps kind of unfortunately getting is the recipient
heavy rains and flooding that comes with it. But they're
not the only area. So you know, again, making sure
your sump is working and getting water away is really important.
And then we always recommend that, you know, as a
season changed, and you know, some people do it when
(33:14):
the time change weekends. You can do it when you're
doing your seasonal home maintenance. Get those batteries and your
smoke detectors and your carbon monoxide detectors, change those and
make sure that that's working properly.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
Yeah, and then kind of on the same topic, a
good time this is a good time to check the
gauge on your fire extinguishers. Make sure that pressure gauge
is still full in an operational range.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
You should be able.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
You should be able to easily access to extinguisher, and
all family members should know where they are located.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
That'd be a good test for your kids tonight when
you came home.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
Right, yeah, I bet you they don't.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Yeah, let's sen a fire broke out. You know where
you're going extinguisher, Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
And if you do have, I mean you should have
obviously detectors and extinguishers on each floor of your home,
including a basement if you have one. Garages, sheds, workshops
tend to be full of a lot of combustible materials.
That can be another place you wouldn't have thought to
have a fire extinguisher handy, but it could. It could,
you know, work well to have one there, and if
(34:17):
you tend to work with tools in these places, even
more so, because it's just kind of a potentially volatile mix.
And we're going to leave you with a final bonus tip,
which is more of a home environmental issue. It's important
to get rid of any of that standing water. We've
talked about. You know, water comes in waves, so to speak.
It can stand around for a day or two before
it kind of evaporates. But standing water leads to the
(34:41):
state bird, the mosquito, and then they're not only an irritant,
but they can pose a health concern as well.
Speaker 2 (34:46):
Yeah, yeah, they really can.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
And the best way to prevent mosquitos in the first
place is to remove any standing water. So think about
you know where that could be in your yard, things
like bird bass, wading pools, maybe pet bowls. You know,
your gutters if they haven't been cleaned, you could have
your water standing in there. So any of those are
going to make for a mosquito habitat.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
Right, I mean. And then there's then there's some other
things that may not be out yet but probably will
be in the coming weeks, like canoes or kayaks if
you store them outside, and you know, and depending on
how you store them, you know, if there's some you know, water,
you want to make sure that you're getting that out there,
you'll put you know, put something over it you know
it rains, or store it, you know where things can drain.
You know, that would be a good thing to tell.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Oh yeah, and don't forget.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
They only need one tablespoon of water to become a
problem in your yard. So that could be like a
like a cap off of.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
A water bottle. That's all it takes.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
That's all it takes.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Yeah, which isn't Which isn't much.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
No, that's not much.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
No, it's not much at all. And we're certainly not
saying not to have bird baths, you know, or stuff
like that in your backyard. You'll live your life, but
you just want to be diligent. If we've had a
heavy rain, I mean even like I noticed it in
in our yard on one of the covers for our
patio furniture. Like, if it's a heavy rain, it kind
of sinks a little bit on the fire table, and
if it gets too weighty, it kind of sinks in
and then it becomes its own little cool and we'll
(36:06):
consistently go out there and you know, tap it out,
you know, lift up the ad and you know, make
sure we're getting rid of that.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
Well, thanks to Pambalante, our marketing director for Remas of
Southeastern Michigan, for being our guest today. It was nice
to have you here.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Yes, it was fun.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
And for those that were listening. Thanks for joining us.
Hopefully the Spring home Maintenance review of sorts has been
helpful for you. Maybe there's a few items that weren't
on your list, and if nothing else, maybe this is
motivating you to get out there and start tackling some
of these items so that you can get them out
of the way in early springs, so when the weather
really breaks and it's nice and sunny, you can hit
(36:41):
the golf course or the boat or the bike or
whatever it is that you enjoy doing at that time
of year.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Get it done now, Get it done now.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
And off your list. Thanks again, we'll be chatting with
you soon. We hope you enjoy today's episode. Don't forget
to subscribe, write a review, or rate the show, as
it helps us reach more people. You can also follow
us on Facebook and Instagram.
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