Spring Home Maintenance To-Do List


It may not feel like spring around here, but winter is officially over (and I’m not sad to see it go). During the winter, I find that we don’t do too much around the house for maintenance. Instead, we find ourselves organizing, working on cosmetic projects, and daydreaming about warmer days ahead. But now that spring is really here, there are quite a few things we need to do to get our home ready for the new season.

And since we’ve been spending so much time at home, it makes sense to tackle some spring home maintenance because we finally have the time!

Spring Home Maintenance To-Do ListSpring maintenance to-do list

Our daughter’s due date is fast approaching, so we’re planning to get all of these items crossed off our spring home maintenance to-do list in the coming weeks. Honestly, not many of these items are difficult or super time-consuming. It’s just a matter of setting aside the time to get them done. When you’re a homeowner, the best thing you can do is keep a regular schedule of maintenance in order to prevent bigger problems down the line. Now that we’ve got this big old house to take care of, we want to do everything we can to keep things in working order around here.spring home maintenance tasks

So let’s get to it…our spring home maintenance to-do list.

Change Air Filter

Changing out our air filter

Well, duh. This task should be completed every single season, not just in the spring. In fact, I have an entire blog post dedicated to the importance of this task (along with tips on which filters to buy). This is a must for every single homeowner. Change your air filter every three months and you’ll be good to go. I buy a big pack of filters and then set a reminder to change it on my calendar and it works great!

Clean Windows (Inside & Out)Window shades in the front window

I’m dreading this task because we have so many windows in our house! My mom and I washed all of the windows on the inside (and the outside ones on the first floor) back in the fall, after our renovation. But we’ve done so many construction projects since then and it’s time for another good cleaning.

In terms of our second floor, I had a local company scheduled to come out this week but they had to cancel due to the coronavirus. I’m hopeful we’ll be able to reschedule soon. The outside of our windows (on the second floor) haven’t ever been cleaned since we lived here, and they’re looking terrible!  I’m eager to see how much brighter it will look around here without the filth blocking the light…

Clear Your Gutters & Downspouts

How to power wash your sidewalk

I’m adding this to the list in case you didn’t tend to it before winter. We actually had all of ours professionally done (second story problems) right before winter started. This was great because there were tons of leaves up there. They should still be clear for the spring and summer season, so we won’t have the professionals come back out. But, if you haven’t cleared your gutters, now is the time to do it (especially with rainy spring!). If you don’t do this, water can back up and lead to leaks, which would be really bad. Get a bucket, some gloves, and a ladder and get to work! While you’re at it, give your roof a good once over to make sure it’s looking a-okay.

Change Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Detector BatteriesChange the batteries in your smoke detector for spring maintenance

When we moved into our house, we added these smoke & carbon monoxide detectors to every room and level in the house. It’s time to change out those batteries. This is such a simple (and lifesaving task!), but one that is easy to neglect when life gets busy.

Another thing you can do (if you’re a Chicagoan) is set up a Home Energy Assessment through ComEd. I did this back in the fall and they changed our lightbulbs to LED ones, swapped out our faucet aerators, and did other things to improve the energy in our house (all for F-R-E-E!). All it takes is a phone call.

Repair Screens & Screen DoorsHow to replace a screen door

We have a screen door with the patio doors off our kitchen and I’ve been meaning to replace the screen ever since we’ve moved in. Well, the time has come! I’m looking forward to warm days with the doors open and I don’t want bugs getting in. This is actually a super easy DIY project and I have a full step-by-step tutorial right here.

Power Wash All.The.Things.

The power of power washing

We bought a new power washer last year and it just might be my favorite tool ever. I spent so many hours last summer power washing our sidewalk, deck, garage door, patio, etc. It’s just so damn satisfying (this post has the details on our unit and my best tips to get the job done). I’m planning to log some time with the power washer over the next month (only if the temps warm up a bit). It’s crazy how much cleaner everything looks after a good power wash!

Oh, and with that being said, we need to get our hose all set up again. We unhooked it over the winter (to prevent freezing), so we’ll get it back up and running in our yard.

Prep Lawnmower

Finn will handle this task because the lawnmower frightens me a bit (I’ve never used one!). Spring is a good time to change the oil in the engine and sharpen the cutting blade. Then once our grass starts growing again, he will be ready to go! And while you’re at it, stock up on yard waste bags at the hardware store.

Service the A/CGet your A/C serviced before summer

We’re contemplating replacing our furnace and air conditioner because they’re both 20+ years old and on their last leg. Trouble is we have two of each. Cha-ching! But, even if you have an old appliance (actually ESPECIALLY if you have an old appliance) you should get it serviced regularly. I need to have someone give our two A/C units a spring tune-up before it gets too hot around here. Hopefully, we can get this scheduled soon.

Clean Out the GarageOur garage flooring

Our garage has seen a lot of action over the winter. We have lots of wood scraps in there from our DIY built-ins project and tools all over the past. We’re planning to purge, organize, and hose it all down so we can use it all summer long. If you remember from this post, we added these garage floor tiles to our garage in August and they still look awesome! I’m so happy we did this as it’s kept our garage a lot cleaner and the floor cushier for projects. (I highly recommend tackling this DIY in the coming months!) The garage floor tiles handled their first winter like a champ. We just need to hose them down and get all of the dirt out that fell under the cracks. It should be an easy cleanup job.Large outdoor sectional from Walmart

I’m tempted to add “bring out patio furniture” to this list, but I think it will still be a while before the temps are quite warm enough for that. We usually get our patio looking good and flowers planted around Mother’s Day, so that might be a May task for our household.Spring is in the air

Now that I look at this list, it doesn’t seem that intimidating. Heck, some of these spring home maintenance items just require a call to a professional (and some cash, of course). I’m in full nesting and cleaning mode over here, so let’s do this! Oh, and if you’re looking for extra credit, this blog post has all of the annual home maintenance tasks you should complete around your house. You’ll notice that this list doesn’t dive into spring cleaning, but don’t worry…I’ve got a big blog post about that publishing in the next few weeks!

Casey


The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.