Exterior Home Maintenance: The Ultimate Checklist

While being in charge of the environment inside of your home is easy, you have absolutely no control over what happens outside. You can’t set the temperature or turn off the lights when you feel like it. This is exactly why maintaining the exterior of your home is important. Do it right and you’ll avoid all those expensive repairs and potential safety hazards. But how exactly do you maintain the exterior of your house? Here’s our checklist that will help you get the job done.

Inspect and clean your roof

Many homeowners simply forget about their roof when it comes to home exterior maintenance. However, leaky roofs are one of the two most common causes of water damage in the home. With that said, inspecting your roof at least twice a year makes a lot of sense. Once you climb on your roof, you should look for areas with moss and algae as these areas are most likely to get damaged and lead to a leaky roof. Missing shingles leave your home vulnerable to harsh weather so make sure to replace them as quickly as possible. Once you’re up there, it’s also a good idea to clean all the leaves and branches that have piled up.

Take care of your pathways

Whether you have a paved pathway that leads to your home or a garden pathway that lets you move around your plants, taking good care of it is a must. The most important thing to have in mind is that you need to regularly sweep your pathways in order to keep them free of dirt and dust. Sweeping also prevents seeds from germinating and ultimately causing damage to your pathway. In case you’re looking to remove stains from your pathway, a good scrub using soapy water should do wonders. For mulch garden pathways, renewing the mulch once a year and breaking up the old matted mulch is recommended.

Freshen up your exterior walls

Some houses and cladding materials need less maintenance than others, but there’s no such thing as maintenance-free exterior walls. Cleaning your exterior walls at least once a year is a must and if you live in an area with harsh weather conditions, you should think about increasing the cleaning frequency. Another important thing to do on a regular basis is clean your cladding. Depending on the age of your house, you can also think about replacing it if you spot any signs of damage. A project like this usually includes buying or hiring quality scaffolding and a lot of free time.

Care for your front door

Your front door is the first thing your guests will get to see and taking good care of it is an important thing to do. The amount of work required usually depends on your front door material. Front doors are usually made of wood and this type requires the most maintenance. They tend to fade as they receive a lot of sunlight, which is why you should consider the idea of applying a finish to it. Steel front doors, on the other hand, are virtually maintenance-free. Most maintenance regarding your steel front door includes cleaning and repairing your hardware. This will help the mechanism last longer.

Clean your gutters

Gutters are an important part of your home. Not only do they keep water away from your home’s foundation, but they also protect it from wood rot. However, they tend to get clogged about once a year. This is usually in the autumn when leaves are falling. To ensure this doesn’t result in a damaged home exterior, cleaning your gutters from time to time (especially in the autumn) is worth the hassle. All you need to do is remove debris from the gutters using kitchen or garden tools and rinse the system to flush everything out. Look for any signs of damage and replace your gutters in case you think it can lead to water damage to your home.

Final thoughts

Taking these precautions and preventive measures will help your home exterior look its best all year long. From time to time, you’ll need to tackle a renovation project, but it’s all worth it. Just make sure you have quality equipment and you’ll be good to go.