Seeing as winter is a longer and much more severe season here in the mountains, we’ve done several posts on the ‘To Do’ Checklists to get you winter ready.
But today, I ran across this GREAT article on Houzz on items you should be doing while the weather is nice. Summer’s here are glorious, but brief. There are just some things that need to be done when the weather is warm.
From both a maintenance and real estate standpoint, a few of the suggested House Maintenance Items really rung especially true for our neck of the woods, which I’ll elaborate about here on the blog, but for the rest of the Houzz suggestions, go here:
Click on photo to go to the Houzz website for more summer ideas
1) Paint your house! Whether you’re intending to list your home, or are already living in it, if the exterior is starting to look a little weather worn, a fresh coat of paint or stain not only will give your exterior a freshening up that ads curb appeal, but will also protect the materials from drying out and falling apart. An ounce of prevention and all…
2) Check your foundation. It’s near impossible to do this when there is 6 feet of snow covering it, unless you really just get off on doing some extra shoveling. Do it now while it’s easy to see. Given our vast freeze/thaw temperature issues, nipping this one in the bud and fixing it now can save you a world of heartache and expense later. Open vents to allow air circulation.
3) Clean the gutters. Reattach broken ones that may have pulled away from the house. And check into other options to keep them that way. Houzz had some good suggestions.
4) Change the direction of your ceiling fans. Not all fans have this feature, most people don’t even know about it when they do. In winter you want the fan to push warm air down, but in the summer, you want the fan to pull warm air up. This is a must have feature if you’re currently thinking about adding ceiling fans to your home. We don’t usually need to install air conditioners here, as ceiling fans do a good job of circulating air and controlling indoor temperatures in our cooler summer climate.
5) Install new screens or replace broken screens on windows and doors. If you can create some cross ventilation, screens allow Mother Nature to move the air for you without letting all the bugs in. One caveat though. In bear country, never leave open doors and windows while you’re out unless you want to come home to a fury beast in your pantry, or a demolished one thereof. They laugh in the face of screens as a deterrent for entrance, especially if they smell something tasty. Bear-1, Screen-0.
6) Resurface your driveway. Winter is not only hard on our roads. Snowplows and ice tend to disintegrate your driveways and walkways as well. Think about a fresh coat before next winter.
7) Clean out the garage. Admit it! We ALL just hate doing this! Trudging through the detritus of belongings that just seems to get thrown in the garage in a haphazard heap is no fun for anyone. But summer is the time to get this area organized! Put all tools back where they belong. If you don’t have a dedicated tool chest or bench, consider installing one. Invest in metal shelving to store paints and solvents, holiday decorations, winter and summer gear, garden tools and any other items that accumulate in the garage. Throw out broken items you have no intention of ever fixing or have a garage sale and/or donate anything you will never use again. Pat yourself on the back when you’re finally able to actually park the car in the garage again!
How about you? Do you have any tips for summer to do lists or summer must haves? Let us know in the Comments section. And we’ll keep you posted on all the fun happenings at Lake Tahoe, Truckee and the surrounding area.
Coming up next: Your Summer Checklist, Part 2: Fun in the Sun. Getting all of your summer gear ready and fun things to do, places to go, events to see in Tahoe, Truckee and the surrounding areas.
YOUR FRIEND IN HIGH PLACES 