Summer Maintenance Tips

Summer is coming, and we know what that means—sweet tea, lemonade, and cooking out, etc. Also, a vast increase in heat, pests, and overworked air conditioners!

Here is a list of 5 things you can do to keep your home in tip-top shape for this summer.

• Go around the outside of your house and inspect the silicone and caulking to make sure there are no gaps. Look around the windows and doors that are set into a brick in particular, as well as the bottoms of the outside threshold of your exterior doors.  You will want to make sure no "creepy- crawlies" can get in! Also, this is an excellent time to check the caulking at your corner boards and outside trim boards and siding because if the caulking has contracted and cracked. All that summer rain is likely to make its way in any cracks and rot the wood underneath.

• Service your HVAC system.  Change the filters and consider a semi-annual maintenance service to make sure that your air conditioner is not working harder than it needs to.

• If you have a wood front door, now is the time to apply another coat of spar varnish on it. Dry rot from sun exposure is a wicked problem in the south for an improperly maintained front door, especially if your front door gets any direct sunlight.

• Make sure you have blinds installed on all your windows and keep them closed during the heat of the day.  This will help minimize the amount of solar energy that gets converted into heat in your home.

• Reverse the direction of your ceiling fans to pull the air upward, especially in rooms with large spaces.  Cool air is heavier than hot air, so as your air conditioner runs all the cool air tends to fall to the floor and stay there.  If you run your ceiling fan, which circulates the air in an upward direction towards the ceiling, it will circulate the cool air around the room, and the whole house will stay a bit cooler. Also, your system will run more efficiently.

BONUS SUMMER SAFETY TIPS

• If you are working or playing outside, be sure to stay hydrated. Our bodies are 60% water, so if you are sweating, you should be drinking water.

• If you are enjoying the beach or the lake or the river, always remember water safety.  Never swim alone, and if you are in a watercraft, always wear a life preserver.

• If you are cooking out, make sure to keep your grill out from under any eaves, and if you are on your deck, make sure to place a fireproof grill matt under the grill to prevent hot coal from starting a fire on the deck.