Winter weather wreaks more havoc on the exterior of your home than the interior, so it’s important to get started crossing off everything on this spring home maintenance checklist as early and quickly as possible!

1. Clear Roof & Clean Gutters

The winter's harsh nature could potentially cause your gutters to crack, fill them up with the last leaves left from fall or damage your shingles, which could lead to a leaky roof in the future.

Either way, you won’t know what shape your roof and gutters are in until you break out the ladder and check it out yourself. If you don’t feel comfortable climbing onto the roof, we recommend saving this task for the professionals. We work with a terrific gutter company!

It’s important to make sure your gutters’ downspouts are properly cleared and facing the right direction. Make sure they’re turned away from your home so the water flows into the yard instead of toward the foundation.

2. Inspect Foundation

Spring brings thawing snow and, many times, torrential rains. Since excess water will likely be in the forecast, it’s important to check the foundation of your home to make sure the cold weather of winter didn’t leave behind any cracks that may allow water into your home’s structure.

Seal all cracks and imperfections with the necessary tools — or call a contractor to do the work if you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself. It’s also important to look for spots around the house with unlevel soil that could potentially allow water to pool and push up against your home. If you find any, pack them in with soil or landscape from areas that are away from your home.

3. Reseal Woodwork

Winter often can cause tremendous harm in the overall makeup of wood-crafted structures and finishes.

Take a close look at any wooden decks, wood trim and other wooden structures on the exterior of your home to see if they have been warped, stained or discolored. If they have, it likely means the wood seal has worn off and it’s time to reseal.

If you have a wooden deck and want to know if you need to reseal it, just pour some water onto the deck. If the water beads up, the seal is likely still intact and you may be able to wait a few more months or a year before you need to reseal the deck. If the water doesn’t bead up, you’ll want to reseal your deck this spring.

4. Survey Hardscaped Material

Concrete, asphalt and other hardscaped material don’t take too kindly to winter’s continuous freezing and thawing ways. This fluctuation in weather and temperature can cause concrete to crack and water to seep through.

Walk around the exterior of your home, looking carefully at your driveway and hardscaped materials that make up your landscape and yard. If you notice any cracks, you may be able to patch it quickly to deter further damage.

Concrete materials don’t take kindly to cracks. You may be able to patch concrete (like small cracks in the driveway), but you may have to replace the concrete if the cracks are beyond repair.

5. Look for Pest Infestations

March through June are prime season for pests to thrive and begin tearing through the wooden structures in your home.

If there are tiny insects flying out of the exterior structure of your home, they could be termites. Also, if your next-door neighbors suddenly put up a carnival-like tent to get rid of termites, you’ll want to call a licensed pest control professional as soon as possible.

6. Turn on & Test Irrigation System

Your irrigation has likely been stuck inside the frozen ground for a few months, which can be extremely harsh on these brittle pipes that help give life to your lawn and landscape.

Run the irrigation system to make sure everything is in working order. Check each sprinkler head to make sure they’re coming out of, and going back into, the ground properly. If they’re a little crooked or you find damaged sprinkler heads, replace them as soon as possible to prevent further damage to the system.

Testing the irrigation system extends to checking all the outdoor faucets attached to your home. We really hope you disconnected the hoses from every faucet! If you did (or even if you didn’t), turn on each faucet and connect a working hose to each to make sure they’re working properly.

7. Scan Screens

Chances are good that you have screen doors and windows on your home that are designed to let that fresh spring air inside and freshen the air in your home. Chances are also good that you don’t want any bugs coming through those screens along with the air.

Walk around your home to carefully scan each screen for any holes that shouldn’t be there. If you find holes, don’t worry! Screens can be patched pretty easily with a standard repair kit from the hardware store.

8. Dump Standing Water

A key spring home maintenance tip that many people forget is to dump all standing water from your property. Standing water can become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which seem to become more and more dangerous each year.

9. Paint Exterior

Take a close look around the exterior of your home to check if the harsh winter weather has chipped or stripped paint from the outside of your home.

Although painting the exterior of your home isn’t necessary every spring, it’s the perfect time to change the color of your home! You may also want to keep an extra bucket or two of paint for the future, in case you need to patch any paint.