Our Spring Home Maintenance Checklist for 2023

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[00:00:24] Eric Goranson: And they use fear to do it. This is where I pay the money instead of having a free quote for a foundation company to come out and scare you. Now, not I'll do that, but the, you could get one of them and that's gonna hit you some money. Have a structural engineer come out, take a look at it. They can look at it and go, oh, that's just a, a, a settling crack.

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[00:01:04] Eric Goranson: Thanks for joining us today. Hope everybody's having a great weekend. Well, today I wanted to talk a little bit about our spring home maintenance checklist. You know, it's our favorite time of year where. We're actually starting to get more daylight and it's time to start diving into these spring maintenance checklists.

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[00:01:43] Eric Goranson: So this list has been created for a number of years. It started out with, uh, at least when handyman Bob had it before I had the. and then every year when I get it, I update it and change it a little bit. So that's why it's not last year's rerun. We just kind of update things as times change and technology changes.

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[00:02:17] Eric Goranson: online.com, and it's carried in Portland on Fox 12 Plus, but you can stream it on a bunch of different networks out there. And all that information is over and around the house online.com, including the previous episodes. Well, today's home maintenance checklist for the spring is an important one because you know, many times winter doesn't matter if you're in North Dakota, Minnesota, where you got a ton of snow or down in Southern California where you're uh, man flooded out and dealing with water issues that you've never seen before.

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[00:03:07] Eric Goranson: And if you got a cover on it, make sure and remove the cover on it. It's also a good time to sit there with the, uh, with the hose and spray it out, clean it out. Make sure that you get all the dirt and junk out of the inside of it, and make sure you've got that all ready to go. Make sure there's no rodents living in there.

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[00:03:43] Eric Goranson: And then here's the thing, clean all those out. Now, storm drains, if you don't know what that is, that is where your. It goes into the downspout. Downspout goes down to the ground, and then it should go into a storm drain. That should not go out under the ground because that water, when [00:04:00] it hits the ground, needs to go out at least 10 feet away from your house.

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[00:04:19] Eric Goranson: If it goes underground, you don't know where it goes. Just make sure that it's free flowing and then you know, when it's raining outside, make sure it's not bubbling out around those, you know, and. In my area here in the Pacific Northwest, many neighborhoods, not all of 'em, but many of 'em, those actually come out and end at the curb in going to the storm drain system in the streets.

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[00:04:58] Eric Goranson: When it was raining and I'm walking [00:05:00] down a neighborhood next to me and I'm looking, going, oh, that one's plugged just at a rough count in about two blocks. 16 to 70% of those in those two blocks were plugged up in the rain. It was jammed up with dirt, debris so that water is going someplace, not out to the street where it's supposed to.

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[00:05:34] Eric Goranson: It was probably 20 to 25 feet of tree roots that we pulled out. And I literally had to use a come along and pull that out of there and it came out and it was amazing how much came outta that pipe. And that was gonna be something that was gonna have to be done every year or two to make sure that was clean.

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[00:06:08] Eric Goranson: Even my gutters on my house, I probably need to do a little work cause there's a couple of 'em there that if I get a lot of snow on it, it definitely does pull 'em down and I have to push 'em back in. So sometimes you can take, take out those nails and put screws. Something that's gonna grow a little bit more and uh, that can help you out there.

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[00:06:46] Eric Goranson: You don't need a super highway there. And any of that stuff is hard on the paint anyway, so just make sure none of that landscaping is touching the house and that, uh, you're making it so like squirrels and stuff can't easily jump onto the roof and jump that cup onto the tree again. So make sure you got [00:07:00] that kind of dialed.

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[00:07:19] Eric Goranson: They've got that little kind of felt, um, almost textured seal around them. Take a washcloth and just wipe it around, get the dirt out of it. It's gonna seal up better and uh, it'll function and last a lot longer. So just get all that stuff wiped down. It's a great time to get all that mold and mildew stuff, any of that junk, that root that has collected along there.

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[00:07:58] Eric Goranson: And while you're at it, if you've got like [00:08:00] soft vents, make sure that when you put a flashlight up in him that the insulation is block blocking, that you need to have that air coming. To the attic space and going outta the attic space in equal spaces. So good time to stick your head up in the attic, make sure everything is going.

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[00:08:30] Eric Goranson: It's like when people wanna put up in the summertime that, you know, in hot weather, They say, oh, I'm gonna put in one of those power vents. That's great, but you need to add more incoming air so you can pull it out and get that going. So you need to have equal balanced airflow into that attic space. So that's a big one.

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[00:09:09] Eric Goranson: A, you can create spaces that are not friendly to nest. That way they're not damaging your home and they can go find a safer place up in a tree or up in the wilderness and not be nesting on your house causing damage because that will do a lot of damage to your house, including things like woodpecker and things like that, that actually do severe damage to your house.

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[00:09:48] Eric Goranson: be loud, be so hot?

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[00:10:10] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round The House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. Hey, if you missed the TV show last weekend, we had a great time over there and around the House Northwest. We ended up talking about VIN fan installation.

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[00:10:47] Eric Goranson: So I installed that in, and then we talked about building code out there, uh, as well with, uh, VIN fan installation. Then I talked with Ross Trai from this old house. And then, uh, we took a look [00:11:00] at the new stuff from Toto, from Toto s So you wanna make sure and check that, and you can check that over to my, uh, Website over there.

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[00:11:21] Eric Goranson: You know, don't go getting up on the roof if there's snow up on it, of course, use some common sense. But, uh, these are things that you should be checking out every spring to make sure your house is good to go and that you've got that damage dialed in to make sure it's taken care of before you. So today we've been talking here, uh, the next one on the list, repair, any weather, damage, holes, cracks in the following roof, sighting, trim, and windows.

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[00:12:02] Eric Goranson: And it makes no sense. Make sure you got that. And especially if you've had hail, make sure that that roof is dialed in. Make sure your vents are clean up there and that's just all good. If you need to do some caulking, do some caulking. That's all stuff that needs to get taken care of and it's important to do so, uh, go around and get that done.

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[00:12:41] Eric Goranson: And now here's another one too. Uh, for all you in the frozen weather areas, take those, uh, insulation from the outdoor faucets out. Make sure and test 'em. Make sure they're not leaking. And if you have to do any repairs on 'em, now is the time to do it. And then turn on any water to outdoor faucets and repair drips and leaks If you have some of those that you've turned.

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[00:13:21] Eric Goranson: So take a look out there. There's a lot of different ones out there that work. Uh, I have my favorite ones, but I tell you what, this can save you on a lot of water and make your lawn look better too. That's a key right there. My favorite one out there that I've used in the past is the ratio, R A C H I O.

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[00:14:00] Eric Goranson: And then there's another favorite product you heard me talk about as well. When you're doing this, if you've got trees that you're trying to water, take a look at. Uh, root Quencher. That's a new thing that you can hook into your sprinkler system and uh, really works well into a drip system as well. You can water those trees.

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[00:14:28] Eric Goranson: So those are good things to do, you know, just get those things dialed in. Now, uh, here's what I gotta do. I gotta re, this is a project I'm gonna be doing here soon. Clean and inspect all window and door screens, make repairs and replacements as necessary. I seriously have to do some window screen repair.

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[00:15:02] Eric Goranson: Puppy decided to make that hole much bigger. And now I'm, I'm gonna be screening some stuff, so I'm sure I'll throw that on the show here again soon. Now here's another one too. Make sure and clean those. Don't just inspect them. Those are like their own air filters. So make sure you get out there with, uh, some stuff, you know, get in there with a detergent, clean 'em up, you know, pop 'em down.

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[00:15:42] Eric Goranson: Scheduled after you get up to about 70 degrees outside because you want that to make sure that when you have that tested, that uh, the free on and stuff isn't the right temperature out there. So for them to test that, you really need to have a 70 degree day outside. So wait to get that scheduled. For it to warm up [00:16:00] just a little bit so you can get that serviced.

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[00:16:27] Eric Goranson: Uh, there's a product that I like using if I've just got a little patch. To do if I've got stucco and things like that to repair. It's a mortar and stucco repair. Uh, Sashco makes it over there. It's called more flex, m o r dash F l e x x. Now it is a text. It's textured like mortar. But it stretches like rubbers.

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[00:17:08] Eric Goranson: It can really be textured. So it looks good that way. That's another. Now, here's another one too that's big. Check all those painted surfaces for paint failure, water damage, mildew. Take a look around the house and again, if you've got mildew and stuff like that up on the roof, let's say I'm not a fan of getting the pressure washer up there and using it on any roofing surface.

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[00:17:53] Eric Goranson: But, uh, make sure that you check all those areas for paint failure. Now's the time to do it because that way this summer, if [00:18:00] you need to do some touch up paint, maybe, you know, if you've got one wall that's facing the sun and it's all checkered and cracked, maybe you only have to do one side of the house versus the whole side.

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[00:18:30] Eric Goranson: All right, we come back. We got so much more to this spring checklist, and don't worry if you ask me over at Around the House online, I'll email it to you. So head over to around the house online.com and uh, Just ask over there and I'll send you a copy. We'll be right back after these important messages.

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[00:19:10] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round the House Show. This is where we hope you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today and, uh, appreciate you guys listening to the podcast as we went on to break for the radio show here. And we're talking today about my spring home maintenance checklist.

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[00:19:43] Eric Goranson: And actually what we got done here, I've got some caulking I gotta do outside where I did some repairs and it's something that, uh, you know, I gotta get dialed in and taken care of. So next up here on the list, we gotta check for broken or cracked. Damage screens on storm windows. You know that any of those, we [00:20:00] talked about the screens earlier, but really what I'm looking for here is if you've got like an old house with individual panes of glass, sometimes you can get cracks and breaks on those.

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[00:20:29] Eric Goranson: Now, I want you to do a serious walk around and look for cracks because this is something that the more you pay attention, the more you're gonna learn about your house. Because especially if you've had like gutters drop down right next to the house where the water drains right next to the foundation, that can be a huge problem to your house.

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[00:21:14] Eric Goranson: And to be honest, I don't usually call out the foundation companies to do that In most cases, there are companies out there that prey on homeowners, in my opinion, and will just absolutely nail you for $25,000 that you don't need to spend. And they use fear to do. This is where I pay the money instead of having a free quote for a foundation company to come out and scare you.

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[00:21:55] Eric Goranson: You don't have a structural problem here, or the ground is moving. If [00:22:00] you do have a problem, pay that engineer to draw up a report to make sure that you've got the right solution. Then you can go to bid and say, here's my structural engineer says, what has to happen? What are the prices to do it? That way you can come up with some solutions.

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[00:22:41] Eric Goranson: Especially in our tight economy that we're fighting right now. So that's a big one. And the other thing is too, when you're doing this, I want you looking for water. If you could see water damage or if you've got the, the landscaping up, I wanna see four or five inches between the siding and the soil there.

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[00:23:27] Eric Goranson: If you're in a heavy rain, get your umbrella. Watch out for, get on your park, whatever. Go outside and walk around your house and see what water is. Now I know my friends in California have got so many questions on leaking foundations from watering your crawlspace, all those things right now that they have never had to deal with in the last five or 10 years in their home, and they're dealing with it now.

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[00:24:11] Eric Goranson: But watch that water no matter where you're at. Whether it's melting snow or California with floods or anywhere else, pay attention to that stuff that can cause bigger. More damaging problems that you need to pay attention to. All right, well, you probably might have done this last weekend if you're paying attention.

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[00:24:41] Eric Goranson: and replaced. So there's a build on date inside. If you don't see a build on date, that thing could be old enough. Then it's time to get a new one. They're not that expensive. And here's one thing too, I really like this in my house. I put in that, uh, Google Nest Protect, and I'm not a big Google fan on stuff, but that thing is a smoke detector, [00:25:00] carbon monoxide detector.

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[00:25:15] Eric Goranson: So I have to go look for a ladder to get up there to, to reset that thing. So something to think about. Next one up here. Clean out that sump pump. Make sure that that whole sump area, if you've got a basement or crawl, Clear the screen on it, test it, make sure it's working, get it all 100% dialed in. Any of those things like that that you're doing, make sure that all of that is working good.

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[00:25:57] Eric Goranson: That's a little secret. Now, if you've got that basement or [00:26:00] crawlspace down there, make sure you've got a humidity sensor down there. Watch that. If it's over 60%, I promise you, you're growing mold and you wanna make sure that you've got that taken care of. So watch that humidity. You can get humidity sensors for those, and it's a good time to get that dialed in and see what you've got.

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[00:26:34] Eric Goranson: So that's another good one. Hey, go around here as well. This is the gross one, guys. This is the one that nobody likes to do, but it's a good thing to do. Removal the hair from the drains and the sinks, tubs, showers, use. Drain cleaner approved for the materials in your plumbing system if necessary. What I'm talking about is I'm not talking about that, you know, caustic junk you pour down that I am not a fan of.

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[00:27:21] Eric Goranson: And two, if you have to call a plumber up, like we talked with uh, Eric Oni from uh, mechanical Hub last week, that can just cost you more money. And uh, I'm not a believer of those cuz they just do more harm than good. But some of those foaming ones that have the enzymes in 'em take a look at that. That's good for your system to keep that cleaned up and, uh, no need for anything else, but it's just a good time to get that stuff.

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[00:27:58] Eric Goranson: It might not be the hair dryer. It [00:28:00] literally could be that not working correctly and it needs some help. So just make sure that you've got, uh, those tested out. Good time to do that. Get all those things dialed in. And, uh, that's one of the most common questions I have in the, in the wintertime when people are putting up their holiday lights.

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[00:28:30] Eric Goranson: More of this when we come back after these important messages, Or spring checklist just as soon as around the house returns.[00:29:00]

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[00:29:20] Eric Goranson: We're gonna have some fun stuff here. We are gonna be talking about, uh, a couple things. One, we're gonna be talking about common electrical tools. We'll be visiting this really super cool boot factory made in USA West Co boots surrounded my area here. These guys have been making boots for 105 years. And, uh, there are a lot of, uh, big, huge movie stars that are guys that, I won't say from your favorite superhero movies that you see these things in all the time, and especially this big tall dude with long hair.

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[00:30:12] Eric Goranson: This is ridiculous. And, uh, we spent about three hours out there about a week and a half ago and went through their whole thing. And, uh, if you're in the trades, these are some killer boots. I was there. And just another personal story with these guys, and, uh, you know, of course none of this is paid for.

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[00:30:50] Eric Goranson: They lasted this person 20 years, and they were in there getting the bottoms rebuilt, so they're still keeping the uppers, and they were replacing some panels in the [00:31:00] bottom and putting a whole new bottom of the shoe in. So they'd be good for another 20 years. And when they rebuild them, You get that same feel back with the uppers broken in.

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[00:31:29] Eric Goranson: And the other thing is, if you've got feet problems or if you've got like a, like an ankle brace or you've got odd sized. For a hundred bucks, you can show up at their door there. They make a mold of your foot that goes on the shelf, and then you just give them your mold number when you order your next set of boots, and they make it to the size of your feet.

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[00:32:11] Eric Goranson: Look for rodent pest damage. Inspect for water intrus. Looks for cracks or movement. Look for leaking pipes. If you have boxes stacked up against a concrete wall, pull the boxes back and see. Many times you'll start to see black mold on the wall down there. So make sure that you've got proper airflow, you've got a space that is clean and make sure that you're dialed in.

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[00:32:59] Eric Goranson: She'll send out a [00:33:00] kit. You can just do an air sample in your house. If you do that once a year, you could actually predict any mold areas and water intrusion things before you see it, because those mold spores will show up in the air before you see him many times, and you can find these things. So for a few hundred.

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[00:33:34] Eric Goranson: If you have a newer home that has a, uh, energy re, you know, e r v system. So basically what that does, it's taking air on the inside, swapping. And putting it back in and in conditioning air as it does it, there's a filter in those. So make sure your E R V system, your energy recovery, ventilator, dehumidifiers, heat pump, water heater, all of these, take a filter many times.

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[00:34:15] Eric Goranson: That'll actually work better. They save you money in the long run and, uh, they'll work better. Some of those, if you have one of those little dehumidifiers down there, make sure it's not on the recall. There's a massive recall about a year, year and a half ago where those were catching on fire. So make sure that you check those recall numbers, uh, just to make sure you don't have a problem there.

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[00:34:54] Eric Goranson: And, uh, when you do your ha hood, make sure that you clean up all the grease on the inside. Make sure that you get those filters out, [00:35:00] wipe it down, de grease it, get it all dialed in and looking good. Some of those nicer hoods, even have a can strip there to get the gr grease. Strippings drippings down. So it ends up going on the fan.

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[00:35:26] Eric Goranson: I do not do a lot of the service on those garage doors because of those springs can kill you. Good time to have somebody come out and do it. Service your appliances clean your filter on your front load washing machine. Yes, there is a filter there. and almost all of 'em. So it goes right before the pump.

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[00:35:58] Eric Goranson: Watch a video, [00:36:00] make sure that you understand how that does Use a self-cleaning feature on your oven. Now here's the key with this. If you haven't used that self-cleaning feature on your oven, Those can, um, cause problems. So if you have a oven that is never seen in 10 years, the self-cleaning function, you could have a problem cuz it hasn't been used in a while.

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[00:36:35] Eric Goranson: Pop that bottom screen out, vacuum out there. Check the water filter as well and any other air filters on that fridge. Another one to take a look at as well is uh, make sure you've serviced that dishwasher. Make sure that's clean and on your oven, take your oven, put an oven te thermometer inside. Check the temperature of that.

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[00:37:21] Eric Goranson: I fixed it. Just remember, you have to adjust your favorite recipes after that because that's one of those things. So watch out for that one. And then one of the last ones. Check your router and computer network and test for speed. Make sure you can just Google up speed test on your computer. Do it there.

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[00:37:58] Eric Goranson: Do not assume that, oh, there's a lot of [00:38:00] people using the network right now. When in doubt, if you're not getting your plan speed, call your cable or internet company and make sure that you're getting what you're paying for. It's their job to deliver it. It could be a squirrel storm damage or anything else from the wintertime, and they might not know that your system is not working correctly.

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[00:38:34] Eric Goranson: Don't worry about it. Just head over to around the house online.com. I've got this a nice PDF and I will send it to you so you can go through and check the boxes as you go, and that way you're good to go. All right, buddy, this is the end of our number one. Thanks for tuning in today. Make sure you catch the TV show, uh, that we've got this weekend and the previous episodes.

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[00:39:10] Eric Goranson: Just looks for Fox 12, Fox 12 plus on there out of Portland, Oregon. It's time to take a break. We'll be back after these important messages with hour number two or just go to the next episode in the podcast. Thanks for listening to Around the House.