Houston is a great place to be during the spring months. Everything is green, the weather is pleasant, and there are many excuses to get out and enjoy local festivals, art exhibits, and other happenings. Spring is already associated with renewal, making it the perfect reason to take a hard look at your home to ensure you do all you can to maintain and improve upon your most significant investment.
Houston Homeowners Guide for Spring 2017
ABC Home & Commercial Services has made life easier for Texas homeowners for over 60 years. Our background-checked employees provide reliable, top-notch home services and treat your home as we would our own. As an extension of this philosophy, we created a Houston Homeowners Guide for Spring 2017.
The 9-page Guide includes:
- Ten things to do in Houston this Spring
- Spring Home Maintenance Checklist
- Spring Cleaning List of Where to Donate or Dispose of Common Household Items Locally
- Advice on How to Mosquito-Proof Your Yard
- Spring Gardening Tips
- 6 Signs You May Need to Repair Your AC
- Pool Opening Checklist
- Easy Home Improvement Projects
You can download the guide here, print the helpful checklists, or view them on your mobile device. To see a short preview of the information you’ll find in the Guide, keep reading.
Spring Home Maintenance Checklist
Maintaining a home can seem like a daunting task. Use this handy checklist to get your home ready for Spring.
Conduct a Safety Check
If you didn’t do so when you changed your clocks for Daylight Savings, now’s the time to check or replace the batteries in your smoke and carbon dioxide detectors. Use this opportunity to also test fire extinguishers in your home and car to ensure they work.
Power Wash Windows and Siding
Whether the exterior of your home is made of siding, brick, or stone, freshen everything up with a good cleaning using a pressure washer. While you are at it, wash your windows so you can let the light from outside in.
Get Your Lawn Ready
Apply fertilizer once your grass starts growing in the spring. Test your irrigation system to ensure all sprinkler heads pop up as expected, none are clogged or malfunctioning, and your timer is set correctly.
Clean Out Your Gutters
Remove leaves, twigs, and acorns from your gutters. Add screens if you don’t have them, or check existing screens to ensure they are in good condition.
Clean and Repair Your Deck or Patio
Remove leaves and other debris from your deck or patio. Consider staining or resealing your deck to protect it. Check for loose or spongy boards and insect damage and schedule repairs.
Plant Your Garden
Spring is an ideal time to plant most bedding plants, vegetables, herbs, and seeds. By giving plants a good head start, they can establish a healthy root system before summer hits.
Replace Your HVAC Filter
Replace your filter once a season. If you have pets or allergies or live in a dry or dusty area (especially new subdivisions or along dirt roads), this may need to be done monthly.
Inspect Your Plumbing
Take a look at any exposed pipes and inspect for leaks. Clean faucet aerators. In guest bathrooms or other unused areas, run water in sinks and tubs and flush toilets to remove built-up grime and dust and ensure everything works properly.
Check Your Vents
Inspect and vacuum your clothes dryer and other exhaust vents. Run the dryer and make sure air is flowing out of the exhaust. Pull the dryer away from the wall and remove the duct. Vacuum the lint at the dryer and inside the lint compartment.
Prune Your Trees
You can identify dead sections after trees and shrubs have fully leafed out for the spring. Prune them carefully back to live wood, except oak trees, which shouldn’t be pruned until July because of the risk of oak wilt.
Seal Doors and Windows
Check your windows and doors for cracks around the frames and caulk or seal them as needed. Apply new weatherstripping. Consider getting an energy audit to test for leaks you can’t detect.
How To Mosquito-Proof Your Yard
Spring is a lovely time of year to enjoy spending time outdoors in Houston. Unfortunately, mosquitoes can sometimes spoil our fun. Here are a few ways to prevent these biting insects from hanging out in your yard.
Take Preventative Measures
Mosquitoes thrive in areas with long grasses, unkempt plants and shrubs, piled-up branches, and other debris. Keep your grass cut short, and regularly trim back plants and shrubs so they don’t harbor mosquitoes. If you’ve got branches or other wood sources piled up in your yard, clear it away and keep it from piling up again.
Remove Standing Water
Mosquitoes depend on standing water to reproduce, so stroll around your yard a few times a week to ensure no moisture has accumulated in pots, wheelbarrows, and other lawn areas. If you have a birdbath, you can purchase disks that contain bacteria toxic to mosquito larvae but safe for birds.
Use Natural Deterrents
Incorporate natural deterrents into your yard such as citronella, lemon thyme, lemon balm, catnip, and feverfew. Natural treatments such as Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis and garlic spray can also help deter mosquitoes.
Invite Natural Predators In
Bats, purple martins, dragonflies, toads, and damselflies are natural predators of mosquitoes. They won’t do the job alone, but combined with other efforts, they can help reduce the mosquito population. You can encourage these mosquito-eaters to visit your yard by creating a draw, like a bat and purple Martin houses, where they can roost.
Try DIY Mosquito Control
Many chemical treatments, traps, and bug zappers can help eliminate mosquitoes. Mosquito traps attract mosquitoes by imitating human characteristics, like producing heat and releasing CO2. Bug zappers use a combination of light and electricity to attract and kill mosquitoes.
If You Need a Helping Hand, Trust The Experts at ABC
Being a homeowner seems overwhelming at times. Even with the help of our Spring Guide, you may find that you don’t have the time you’d like to dedicate to home projects. If you need a helping hand, you can trust the experts at ABC to help make your life a little easier.