Home Maintenance Archives | The Green Cocoon

10 Home Maintenance Tips for Spring

Home Maintenance

Now is the perfect time to get your home ready for spring using these 10 home maintenance tips. After a long, dreary winter, seeing the snow melt and feeling the warmer temps is a breath of fresh air. Getting your home ready for spring is more than cleaning.

Examine Roof Shingles

Examine roof shingles to see if any were lost or damaged during the winter. If your home has an older roof covering, you may want to start a budget for replacement. The summer sun can really damage roof shingles. Shingles that are cracked, buckled, or loose or are missing granules need to be replaced. Flashing around plumbing vents, skylights, and chimneys need to be checked and repaired by a qualified roofer.

Seal Air Leaks

Pay particular attention to windows and doors. If you spot cracks or gaps, caulking or weatherstripping should fix the problem; both are simple, DIY projects. Weatherstripping windows, for example, requires only measuring tape, a utility knife, and self-adhesive tape.

Insulate the Attic

If your attic has no (or little) insulation, the room could become a sweatbox on a warm spring day. Adding insulation before warmer weather arrives will prevent that from happening. Another benefit of insulating your attic now: It will help reduce heat loss during the cold winter days ahead.

Check the Gutters

Check for loose or leaky gutters. Improper drainage can lead to water in the basement or crawl space. Make sure downspouts drain away from the foundation and are clear and free of debris.

Check Outside Faucets

Check outside hose faucets for freeze damage. Turn the water on and place your thumb or finger over the opening. If you can stop the flow of water, it is likely the pipe inside the home is damaged and will need to be replaced. While you’re at it, check the garden hose for dry rot.

Service the AC Unit

Have a qualified heating and cooling contractor clean and service the outside unit of the air conditioning system. Clean coils operate more efficiently, and an annual service call will keep the system working at peak performance levels. Change interior filters on a regular basis.

Check the Foundation

Check foundation walls, floors, concrete, and masonry for cracking, heaving, or deterioration. If a significant number of bricks are losing their mortar, call a foundation professional. If you can slide a nickel into a crack in your concrete floor, slab, or foundation, call a foundation repair professional near you immediately.

Siding

Clean siding with a pressure washer to keep mold from growing. Check all wood surfaces for weathering and paint failure. If wood is showing through, sand the immediate area and apply a primer coat before painting. If paint is peeling, scrape loose paint and sand smooth before painting.

Replace Filters

Replace all filters including water, range hood, and air vent filters. You should replace these filters every 3-6 months depending on the type of filter you have.

Clean Out the Dryer Vent

Sure, you diligently clean out the lint trap every time you empty the dryer, but when was the last time you cleaned out the entire dryer vent? This easy task will not only improve the efficiency of your dryer, but it can also help prevent fires. (According to the U.S. Fire Administration, clothes dryers cause around 2,900 home fires each year.)

In short, these 10 home maintenance tips for spring are just a few we recommend. There are many more available at energy.gov.

Ice Dams and How to Prevent Them

Closed Cell, Home Maintenance, Insulation, R-Value, Roof Health

Does your house have icicles hanging from the roof during the winter? If so, there is something going on that could potentially cost you thousands of dollars. It is called an ice dam

What is an ice dam?

If the attic isn’t properly insulated, during the winter the warm air will escape and melt the first layer of snow on your roof. Many uneducated contractors will tell you to increase your attic insulation to prevent ice dams. While this may slow down the build up of ice dams, it will essentially increase the speed of your heat loss. Consequently, the heat loss will make your home less efficient.

DIYers (do-it-yourself) like to solve the problem by putting heat tape on the roof, but that can be incredibly damaging to the shingles. Furthermore, the tape does not solve the problem, which is inefficient insulation and heat loss.

The layer of snow that is against the roof will melt and run down the roof shingles. You can’t see this happening because it is under the pile of snow. Once the water reaches the overhang where it is colder, an ice dam starts to form. This process happens over and over; the ice dam gets bigger; and the water gets higher. Eventually, water will get under the shingles!

As the melting continues, the ice dam and water lift the shingle more and more. Eventually, it hits the top of the shingle. That is when water can get into your house, and potentially cause thousands of dollars in damage.

How to prevent ice dams

Whether you are creating a conditioned or unconditioned attic, we recommend the same things.

Seal the gaps – First you need to air seal any gaps or holes in the floor or roof. There are several products that we suggest you use. Please contact us so we can help you decide which product is best for you.
Use correct R-value – Make sure you have enough R-value. Remember, fiberglass doesn’t have a constant R-value so we don’t recommend it. In southern New Hampshire, you need a minimum of an R-49.
Ventilate the attic – If you plan to insulate the attic floor, make sure to allow for proper ventilation to prevent condensation. If you are not sure you have adequate insulation, give us a call and we will come out and take a look.

Using a spray foam in the attic is the best choice because it fills the holes and crevices. We recommend closed cell spray foam for several reasons: