Routine home maintenance can extend the life of your home’s materials and save you money on repair costs. Whether you’re a new homeowner or a seasoned pro, you may struggle to juggle all of the tasks you need to do around the property. This exterior home maintenance checklist can keep you on track throughout the year.
Late Winter – January and February
January and February are the coldest months of the year in the Detroit Metro. Most of your exterior tasks will relate to snow and ice management. If you live in a warmer climate, some of these tasks may not apply to your needs.
- Monitor your property for fallen branches, ice dams, and storm damage
- Put cheap rugs on walkways before it snows, and pull them up when you need to walk. This will keep your walkways clear and save some time with snow removal.
- Use a leaf blower to blow loose snow away from walking areas.
- De-ice your driveway and walkways as needed.
- Check for frozen or swollen pipes on the exterior of your property, and address leaks quickly.
- Remove unwanted plants when the weather starts to warm (before they start blossoming in spring).
Early Spring – March and April
Early spring is a great time to prune plants and clean up your landscaping. Here are some exterior home maintenance tasks for early spring:
- Prune bushes, shrubs, and most garden plants after the last frost of the year. This eliminates the dead parts of the plant so all the nutrients can funnel to healthy areas on the plant during the growing season.
- Cultivate your soil and add a fresh mulch bed around your garden.
- Check for damages you may not have noticed in the winter snow.
- Watch your gutters when it rains to make sure they’re still working properly.
- Cut bushes back at least six inches from any fence lines or housing materials.
- Clean up any leaves that remain from the fall.
Late Spring/Early Summer – May and June
May and June are high-bloom months for exterior plants, but they’re also good months to work on your home’s exterior. The weather is nice enough to complete weekend projects without extra clothing layers to work around.
- Start mowing your grass, weeding, and caring for plants in bloom.
- Seal around your windows, doors, and other exterior features to maximize energy efficiency.
- Power wash your fencing, siding, concrete, and other exterior materials.
- Get quotes for any exterior upgrades you want to do so that you can start planning this year’s home improvement projects.
- Check the screws/nails on your fencing and gutters to make sure they’re secure after the weight of winter ice.
- Clean your air conditioner to minimize strain in the summer.
Summer – July and August
July and August are the hottest months of the year in Metro Detroit, but they’re mild compared to many parts of the country. Here are some tasks you can complete at this time:
- Clean your gutters. You should do this at least twice annually – once before fall and once at the end of fall. If you have trees around your property, you may need to clean your gutters more often than that. Check out our Gutter Cleaning Services in Michigan for more information.
- Use your sprinklers or water your lawn. Rainfall declines in the heat of the summer, so you’ll need extra moisture to keep your yard healthy.
- Dump freestanding water to keep mosquitoes off your property. Check outdoor play equipment, bird baths, dog water bowls, and anything else water can collect in.
- Paint your porch, stain your fence, and conduct other exterior home improvement tasks.
- Open your windows on cooler days to give your AC a break and circulate fresh air into your home.
- Schedule professional outdoor lighting installations if you want someone else to install your Christmas lights. Many companies that offer these services book up in the fall, so you can get ahead of that by booking now.
Early Fall – September
September gets its own category on our exterior home maintenance checklist because there are several tasks to complete in a short amount of time. Those include:
- Clean your gutters if you haven’t already! We cannot emphasize this enough. Get your gutters completely clog-free so they can take on the fall leaves to come.
- Top off your mulch beds to insulate roots for winter.
- Rake leaves and keep them off your fence line.
- Shut off the sprinklers, close down the pool, and winterize your exterior plumbing.
- Schedule your heater or furnace maintenance to ensure it’s ready for winter.
- Consider getting new attic insulation. Insulation can prevent ice dams in winter, so now may be a great time to get a quote.
Fall – October and November
Fall leaves are beautiful, but they’re a nightmare to clean. During this time of year, you’re mostly at the mercy of the trees on your property.
- Cover your air conditioning unit and shrubs to protect them during the winter.
- Cover or bring in your patio furniture, grills, and other outdoor entertainment elements.
- Trim back any overhanging branches that may damage your roof and gutters in the winter.
- Install crawl space covers if your home sits on a crawl space foundation.
- Continue raking and removing leaves, ideally when they’re dry. Wet leaves are heavier to rake and harder to bag.
Early Winter – December
We only have one request for December:
- Clean your gutters…again! Late November and early December are usually the best times of year to clean your gutters after fall. The goal is to remove all the autumn leaves that have fallen in there so that your gutters can handle melting snow off your roof. Take this step now to avoid gutter and foundation damage in the winter and spring.
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