We’re well into yet another summer but there’s still plenty of time to catch up on those home maintenance tasks you’ve been meaning to do before cooler weather arrives. Keeping your home in good shape and making sure you’re ready for another long winter go hand-in-hand since the wind and moisture alone can do quite a number on your home, especially the exterior. Fortunately, being proactive and attending to preventative maintenance can go a long way in making sure that you don’t have more trouble to contend with during the next warm season.

Repaint Your House

Moisture is one of the biggest causes of paint damage – it can easily induce peeling or blistering if not kept in check. While you might not want to wait until winter’s over to take care of your paint – it’s always best to wait for warm weather since fresh paint generally doesn’t do very well in cold weather. It may have trouble adhering to the walls and mildew can even be an issue as well if the air is damp.

What to watch out for:

- Over the winter, typically damp areas of the house such as your bathroom may be wetter than usual due to reduced ventilation in the house. As a result, moisture can condense on your interior walls and wick through them to the exterior, causing damage to the paint on the outside.

- If you live somewhere that receives heavy snow each winter, snowmelt on the roof may soak into the shingles and drip down the walls instead of running off the roof as it normally should. This also can damage the paint over time if it happens repeatedly.

Maintain Your Fence

Like most wood structures, wooden fencing is particularly vulnerable to damage from winter weather due to the moisture in the air.

What to watch out for:

- Is your fence at the base of a slope or hill? Runoff from a hard rain or snowmelt can pool around the bottom of the fence and cause the wood to rot if it isn’t drained properly. Always make sure water can drain away from the fence rather than collecting around it.

- If it was a particularly wet winter, the wood may have become waterlogged and not had a chance to completely dry out, which can give rot or mold an easy foothold. Staining or painting the fence over the summer can help prevent this by protecting the surface of the wood and making it more difficult for water to penetrate.

- Make sure there are no dead leaves, seedpods, twigs or other debris piled up against the fence or stuck in the cracks. These can harbor moisture and rot the fence as a result

- Is your fence leaning? Soil shifting, high winds and other factors can cause the fence to lean if the posts aren’t set in concrete – this is another project you may want to tackle while warmer weather is still around.

- Do any of the fence boards have holes in them? The temperature shifts over the winter can cause the wood to swell and shrink repeatedly – which can make knots in the wood work out over time and leave holes behind that might attract bugs.

Seal Your Driveway and Patio

Asphalt driveways and patios typically need to be re-sealed every couple of years at the minimum in order to keep them in good shape. Concrete is a bit tougher and usually needs to be resealed every 4-5 years.

What to watch out for:

- If your area gets below freezing during the winter, an asphalt driveway that isn’t sealed can be prone to damage if water soaks into the asphalt and subsequently freezes, which causes it to expand and can crack the asphalt as a result. The underlying soil can also develop what’s called a “frost heave” – water in the soil may freeze and lift the driveway up in places, causing cracking, bumps or potholes in the asphalt.

- Concrete is generally less-vulnerable to water damage but sealing is important to help prevent staining and can extend its useful lifespan significantly beyond an asphalt driveway

Maintain Your Garage Door

Your garage door is one of the less-complicated things in your home and even a standard garage door is generally good for at least 15-20 years, but the moving parts will tend to wear out long before the garage door does.

What to watch out for:

- Lubricate the springs, rollers and cables with a product like WD-40 Garage Door Lubricant.

- Check that the weatherstrip along the bottom of the garage door is sealing tightly against the ground when the garage door is fully closed

Maintain Your Gate

Along with the fence, the gate can take a real beating over the winter.

What to watch out for:

- Inspect the hinges for rust and lubricate them as needed

- If you have an automatic gate, the sensor should be checked to ensure it isn’t blocked by fallen branches or other debris that could block it from detecting your car or a signal from a remote

Inspect Your Foundation

As some unlucky homeowners are aware, a foundation problem can easily be a very costly problem if left unchecked – but fortunately you can avoid a good deal of trouble by being proactive with maintenance.

What to watch out for:

- Make sure that the ground around the foundation slopes away from it and doesn’t allow water to collect against the foundation. Water can soak into the ground and seep under the foundation, causing the underlying soil to expand and contract as it gets wet/dries out. This in turn can cause the foundation to alternately heave or sink, potentially causing cracks in the foundation itself or damaging the structural integrity of your home

- Especially important during a dry summer – “water” the foundation lightly to keep the soil moist so it doesn’t dry out and pull away from the foundation. This in turn can also damage the foundation if it isn’t supported properly by the surrounding soil.

- If you have any trees near your house, make sure there aren’t any roots growing under the foundation. These can easily crack the concrete if they grow into the foundation.

John Curtis blogs for a San Diego garage door repair company which provides a number of home improvement services including Chula Vista garage door repair to homeowners.

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