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Preparing Your Home For Summer

Preparing Your Home For Summer

It’s hot. Really hot. It’s hot outside which means that if you didn’t prepare your home for summer, it’s probably really hot in your house. So now’s the time to get that taken care of before the double digits turn into triple digits. When those triple digits hit, you can spend that time indoors finishing the other upkeep. Here are a few tips on preparing your home during the heat of summer.

 

Power Wash & Seal Your Deck & Fence

Power Washing the wood on your deck as well as your fence is a great way to clean off the dirt, debris, and old stain from the planks. Once everything has been cleaned off, then restain and reseal it. The Texas heat wreaks havoc on wood left out in the sun. If the fence and deck aren’t resurfaced often, the boards will warp and then you will be forced to replace them.

 

Re-Caulk the Doors and Windows

To be certain that air is not coming into or escaping from the house, you need to re-caulk around your doors and your windows. It is a good idea to do this both inside and outside of the home. If the gaps are too large for the caulk to patch it, expanding foam is a good option. It expands to fit the gap. After it cures, you can sand it down and paint over it. Just be careful of the surfaces that it lands on and make certain to wear gloves when applying it. It does not come off easily.

 

Clean Your Gutters

Get up on that roof and clean out your gutters. You can either run a hose through them to remove the debris or you can sweep the debris out. Be very careful not to clog up your downspouts with the extra leaves. Downspouts can be cleaned with the handle of a broom and some water, pushing the debris out of the bottom of the spout.

 

Change the Batteries

Go ahead and change the batteries in your smoke detector and your carbon monoxide detector. If you do this at the same time every year, then you won’t be caught off guard. Also, check the expiration date on your fire extinguisher. If it has expired, then have it replaced. There is nothing worse than being in the middle of an emergency and having failed equipment.

 

Clean Your Oven

While you are changing things out, clean your oven. If you have a self-cleaning oven, then set it up to clean itself in the morning hours, when you are most likely going to be outside working in the cool air. If you are manually cleaning your oven, then soak everything in an oven cleaner and let it sit for 30 minutes before you get to scrubbing. More than likely you only need to wipe it down with a wet washcloth. Don’t forget to clean the microwave too!

 

Vacuum The Lint Trap

Last but not least, vacuum out your lint trap. It takes two seconds to run the vacuum hose around the lint trap. Then remove the hose from the back and vacuum it out as well. This will allow for more air circulation and cut down on the risk of extra lint catching fire behind your dryer.