Getting Your Home Ready For Summer

Getting your house ready for summer can be a big project. Whether you have guests coming over, children ready to run around and mess up hard work, or you just want to out-shine your next door neighbor, getting your home ready for summer can be a serious job for the whole family. Especially in a place like St. Louis Missouri, where you need to recover from a harsh winter or clean up after dust storms. Regardless of where you live, prepping your home for summer adventures is a must, but there are a lot of things to consider. Here are a few different ways you may want to think about getting your house ready for summer!

Curb Appeal

The first thing everyone notices when they come to or drive past your home – the outside. I suggest going outside and taking a nice long look at your lawn or garden, driveway and walkways, walls, windows, and roof. There are a lot of things that you don’t really notice while staying inside everyday that you may want to change or touch up on the outside. 

Lawn and Garden

When you think about outdoor maintenance, most minds go straight to pulling weeds, lawn work, and bush trimming. Although this is far from the only responsibility for the exterior of your home, it’s definitely one of the most important. For those of you with unsightly trees, it may be worth looking into tree trimming in St. Louis, or for whichever area you may live in. Trees are one of the most prominent features outside your house, so you want to make sure they’re all looking good. When it comes to gardening and lawn care, take your time and pay attention to detail. 

Driveways and Walkways

Driveways and walkways see the most human traffic, and in turn can get the most dirty, the fastest. These require constant upkeep as well, especially after a long winter of salt and dirty water or snow resting on your concrete or asphalt. Power washing can be a great tool to take advantage of for a quick and thorough cleaning. Power washers get into every nook and cranny you have, and get your driveways and walkways looking like new in no time! Not to mention it’s satisfying to watch. For those of you with asphalt driveways, looking into resurfacing or repairs may also be worth your time and money, depending on the shape it’s in. 

Walls and Windows

Oh yes, the outside of the house itself may need attention as well. After a wet spring and winter, windows can get a lot of salty residue or other contaminants on them that drastically take away from the curb appeal of your home. Most of these are easy to clean yourself with some windex and paper towels, or a squeegee if you really want to get fancy. However for elderly homeowners or people who simply want it done professionally, there are plenty of freelance washers or businesses that will come get your windows sparkling again in no time. Outdoor walls may need new paint, trim, or filler. Missing bricks, discolored or bleached paint, and missing trim pieces are a surefire way to make your house look out of place. 

Fireplaces and the Roof

The roof and fireplace are much harder to see than the rest of the house, depending on the shape. But come summer, you’ll more than likely not be using your fireplace very often if at all, so getting it ready for summer, closing grates, and covering the top to prevent animals and contaminants from getting in are a must. Make sure you pay attention to your roof, missing shingles or tree branches and leaves are all undesirable, but generally easy to get clean. This also includes making sure your gutters are free of debris, especially after a harsh fall season or storm. 

The Interior

After seeing the exterior of your home, guests enter inside. Since this is where you and your family live, it gets the dirtiest the fastest, especially if you like to hold activities often or have lots of visitors. But that also means that it needs to be the cleanest. Make sure you take good care of floors and walls, organize thoroughly, and pay close attention to anything with an open door, or where visitors will be present. 

Floors and Walls

Make sure that floors and walls are sparkly clean, and look good. Floors throughout the whole home should be properly cleaned. For carpet, pick up toys, blankets, or other objects that may be present. If you have any stains or bad smells, make sure you clean your carpet and use stain remover to get it back to new, and then take your time and vacuum it right. For hardwood or tile floors, sweep while paying attention to detail, and then mop thoroughly, making sure to dry mop afterwards to get all of the dirt and grime off of the floor, rather than just spreading it around. For walls, fill any holes that may be present, make sure pictures are all straightened out, touch up paint if needed, and take a light cleaner to get all of the dust or handprints off. 

Tables, Desks, and Other Surfaces

Now that your floor and walls are clean, you need a place for all of that debris you picked up off the floor. Obviously trash will get thrown out, but make sure you don’t just move or clump together other objects. Organize them well, and take your time to make it look good. At this stage, get all of the objects off of desks, tables, and other surfaces. And organize them as well. Now it’s time to hit everything with a duster. Especially after a long, cooped-up winter, dust seems to be everywhere. After this, make sure you haven’t scratched or scraped off paint on any of your tables. If you have, touch it up, and then hit everything with a light surface cleaner, that won’t strip any of your hard work away. Now, sit back and relax!

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