5 Maintenance Tasks for Your May To-Do List

Since you’ve taken care of your post-Winter cleanup last month, it’s time to start looking forward to the Summer months – sunny skies, warm air, a nice breeze, a few barbecues and the chance to finally show off the patio renovations you made last Fall.

That gives you one month to get your property ready for the heat. We put together this month’s maintenance checklist to get your home in tip top shape to make that simple.

Fixing up brick and concrete patio areas

You don’t have that fancy patio area so the grass can creep through and spoil your look, so that’s where we’ll start: check all your sidewalks, concrete or brick patio areas and your driveway before your home gets lost in the weeds.

Since you’ll need to give these surfaces a good wash down anyway, you can kill two birds with one stone by using a pressure washer – pay extra attention to the cracks between your paving and knock away all the extra green while you’re also fighting stains and debris buildup. Follow it with your favorite deweeding spray and a weedeater to make sure the weeds stay gone for as long as possible.

You may have to trim the weeds throughout the summer, but if you stay on top of them, this is usually one of the easiest ways to keep your property in good shape!

Get your outdoor entertaining area ready

Spring and Summertime may not mean party-time for everyone, but it is the time of year to step outside and take a deep breath of fresh air – if you can surround yourself with some great people and good food, that’s just a bonus!

Before you break out the grill and hot dog buns, you’ll have to get your party space ready. Since you’ve already cleaned and weeded your patio space, this task is even simpler: start be cleaning your grill. This can be as simple as using a grill brush and some soap and water.

For a quick guide on grill cleaning, check out this easy how-to here!

Now it’s time to beautify – pick out your favorite landscaping pieces to keep your party-hosting spot beautiful as can be! Some other things to take care of? Clean off your patio tables and outdoor furniture, set up outdoor games, like ‘cornhole’ or ‘bags,’ and get ready for those pesky mosquitoes with a few tiki torches from your local home improvement store!

Whatever you do, don’t let these things ruin your first get together!

Fill in lawn with compacted soil or fertilizer

Last month, we talked about getting rid of problem areas where water tends to pool in your yard by installing a french drain. Now it’s time to tackle other problem spots – areas where the grass isn’t growing how you’d like it, resulting in yellows or brown spots.

The simple answer is to treat your lawn like a garden. If you have brown or yellow spots in your lawn, start off by clearing and cutting out dead and matted debris. Then, dig beneath your soil two to three inches deep. Scatter in grass seed and add in your preferred choice of fertilizer or soil. Give it a first round of water and your grass is off to a great start!

Service your HVAC unit

Summer is the season of heat, so keeping your home cool and comfortable has to be a priority! The first step is making sure your heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) unit is clean and up-to-date.

Your first step is making sure you have a monthly maintenance schedule, taking special care to change the filter each month. Some other simple tasks you can do to maintain your HVAC unit without professional help include:

Clearing any debris that may have gathered around your unit and clearing back any vegetation growing too close.
Give your unit a good hosing to clear off dust and dirt.
Go inside your home and make sure all your registers are clear of any furniture, rugs or drapes that may get in the way.

And for professional maintenance, here are a few things to consider before the hiring process gets in full swing!

Check the roof on all buildings

You may not be able to get to it right away this month – especially since you may be still dealing with Spring showers – but checking all the roofing on your property’s buildings is an ASAP-sort of job. Roofing can be expensive, so identifying problem spots early makes planning and budgeting to fix them that much easier.

Start in your attic, assessing any wet spots born from a leaky roof.
Do a walk-around of your property, looking for loose shingles that may have blown away during stormy weather.
Do an assessment of when your roof was repaired or replaced last. Most experts agree that roofs should be re-shingled every 20 to 30 years.

If you have a shed or garage, you can take these same steps to make sure everything you have in storage is kept dry and safe! And if the roof on your shed or garage is damaged, you better hope it’s a Cook shed – every Cook building comes with a 30-Year Shingle Manufacturer’s Warranty.

Read more about the Cook promise here, backed by warranties to protect your buildings, sidings, roof and all!