Get the Outside in Shape for Spring

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It's no secret that winter can take its toll on your home’s exterior, especially in cooler regions. Help preserve the value and appearance of your home this spring by inspecting your house for damage from the cold months, and then lining up your list of repairs. Enlist your spouse and children to help out, so every inch is covered.

Tasks to Tackle on Your Own:

• If you've used your wood-burning fireplace over the winter, schedule a chimney sweep to clean and inspect the fireplace and flue.
• Inspect trees for loose branches. Also check shrubs for breakage if they've been under heavy snow for any period of time. Remove any damaged limbs.
• Joints in stone or brick garden borders also can become weakened over the winter. Test them for soundness and repair them if necessary.
• Check your sidewalks, walkways, driveway and concrete porches or patios for cracking. Cracks in paved surfaces allow moisture to get under them, which is where deterioration begins. Like roof work, larger repairs might require a contractor.
• In warmer climates, mildew can pose problems for any painted surface — wood, stucco, masonry or aluminum siding. Check your home's exterior carefully, and consider treating it with a mildew sealer if you find damage.

How to Get the Whole Family Involved:

• Inspect gutters and downspouts. Remove any debris that might prevent them from draining. Also, make sure they’re secure against the house, and tighten any loose fastenings.
• Even treated or painted wood expands and contracts with freezing.
• Check your deck or wooden porch for loose boards and nails, and splintered or broken wood.
• Hammer down or remove and replace any loose nails, and sand down splintered wood. Larger repair jobs might require a contractor.
• Freezing temperatures can cause plants — particularly those planted not long before the first frost — to heave out of the ground. Check your garden beds for any plants with root balls partially exposed. Those plants will likely have to be discarded and replaced.
• Roofing shingles become brittle in cold temperatures and might break if you handle or walk on them. It's best to wait until spring to look for loose, curling or missing shingles.
• To secure a loose shingle, lift it slightly and apply plastic roofing cement under it. Badly damaged shingles should be replaced altogether.

Visit www.pgeverydaysolutions.com for more information.