While winterizing your home is generally about shutting things down and protecting your home, summer-izing your property is about opening it up and expanding your living space to include the outdoors. The grill comes back into regular rotation, the mower starts earning its keep once again, and mealtime and evening relaxation move to the patio or deck. But before you fully settle into summer mode, it’s worth spending a weekend afternoon or two getting your house and yard ready to handle the warmer weather and the long days of outdoor living ahead.
Fortunately, summer prep is generally less intensive than winterizing. You’re not trying to protect your home from freezing temperatures or ice storms — you’re mostly getting things cleaned up, tuned up, and back into use after months of relative neglect. Completing a few small maintenance tasks now can prevent bigger headaches later and ensure that you actually get to enjoy the season to its fullest.
Here are 10 jobs to tackle before summer is fully in swing:
1. Get yardwork tools and gear ready.
The first real weekend of warm-weather yardwork often leaves me scrambling to find matching work gloves or bemoaning busted yard clippers. This year, be prepared by doing an inventory of your tools, seeing if anything needs to be replaced or repaired, and buying a couple new pairs of yard gloves (you can never have too many, especially as kids get old enough to help).
2. Test outdoor water lines.
If it’s been a while since you’ve used your outdoor water lines — like exterior spigots (often called “hose bibs”) and sprinkler lines — make sure to test them before they’re needed. If the water has been turned off all winter, turn it back on and test each hose bib as well as each sprinkler zone. Beyond solving any major problems, you may find you need new rubber gaskets or sprinkler heads.
3. Repair damaged window screens.
If you have holes in your window screens (especially the ones you regularly use), now is the time to repair them. DIY kits for smaller patch jobs are readily available online or in hardware stores; I’ve also found that screen repair at places like Ace Hardware is pretty darn cheap and well worth their expertise.
4. Get your A/C inspected and tuned up.
Just like your furnace, your air conditioning system should get an annual inspection and tune up. Nearly every local HVAC company offers this service. It’ll almost certainly include a new air filter, a spray down (which you can also do yourself), perhaps checking refrigerant levels — and hopefully nothing major. It’s much better to get your A/C checked out while temps are still relatively cool rather than needing it serviced at the peak of summer’s heat and humidity. Don’t be afraid to tag along and ask questions during that tune up; you should know the basics of your HVAC system.
5. Prep your mower for the season.
If your mower has been stored for the winter, there are a couple steps to ensure it runs smoothly and easily once it’s needed. Give it fresh gas and check the oil (if it’s electric, charge up the battery). Make sure the deck/blade area is clean. And you may need to replace the air filter and/or spark plug if it doesn’t start up as easily as it used to. Come spring, I always notice my mower will start a little slowly and crankily at first, but then it’s generally good to go. Be sure to also read our article on mower maintenance.
6. Change ceiling fan direction.
You can set ceiling fans to spin in different directions depending on the season. In winter, the fan should spin clockwise (when viewed from below) at a low speed, which gently pulls cool air upward and pushes warm air trapped near the ceiling back down into the room. In summer, the fan should spin counterclockwise, creating a downward breeze that makes you feel cooler.
If you changed the direction of your ceiling fans for winter, now’s the time to change them back for the warmer months (most fans have a small switch for this on their base).
7. Clean your grill and get propane.
Even in the colder seasons of northern Minnesota, I never fully quit grilling. But the pace certainly picks up when the weather is consistently nice, making it the perfect time to give your grill a thorough cleaning. Also make sure your propane is topped off and you have an extra tank or two; there’s nothing worse than running out of gas halfway through cooking up dinner.
8. Get ready for bugs (ant traps, wasp traps, fly catchers, etc.).
It’s always best to stock up on insect traps and repellents before the season really gets going. Your house and neighborhood will have specific needs and there are different philosophies for dealing with pests on your property. That said, nobody wants ants in their house, wasps stinging their kids, or flies noshing on their snacks. Prepare your various anti-insect tools and strategies (including Brett’s favorite mosquito eradication solution).
9. Clean out gutters.
Even if you cleaned out your gutters after the fall leaf season, you’ll want to do it again to clear away any winter muck that accumulated. If you didn’t do it last fall, you’ll really want to now, to ensure your gutters are running smoothly and not overflowing or clogging (which can lead to further problems).
10. Clean and/or pressure wash decks, sidewalks, and patios.
Fall, winter, and early spring leave a lot of grime on your outdoor areas. Give them a good clean in preparation for summer entertainment season; heavy duty sweeping and leaf/dirt/grass blowing (and perhaps pressure washing) should be part of every homeowner’s summer prep checklist. Check your outdoor lighting while you’re at it, changing out lightbulbs as needed.
