The Paint Doctor - Atlanta Commercial Painting

Spring Checklist for Exterior Home Maintenance

Beautiful weather is here to stay. Here are a few suggestions for keeping your home in tip-top shape.

1. Roof: Use a ladder to inspect your roof. Look for missing or damaged shingles. Also look inside your attic for signs of water leaks.
2. Chimney, vent pipes & skylights: Inspect all of these areas because they can also be prone to leaks. Flashing and caulking doesn’t last as long as the fixtures they’re sealing.
3. Gutters: Clean them now if you didn’t clean them in the fall.
4. Flashing: You’ve already checked the flashing on the roof, now check it around windows, doors, and your deck. The deck flashing is where many problems are found. The ledger board attached to the house must be flashed properly and the deck boards need to be spaced to allow water to flow down rather than puddle.
5. Windows and Doors: Check to see if the caulking around your windows and doors isn’t brittle, cracked or has shifted leaving gaps. Repair/replace torn or baggy screens.
6. Painting: Exterior paint is meant to protect wood from the elements. Homeowners focus on how often they need to paint the entire house, which is typically every 5 to 8 years, but it can vary. Often, one side of the house should be painted more frequently because it is exposed to more sun, wind and/or moisture from tree and shrub coverage. Wood trim that is more vulnerable to wood rot (fascia boards behind gutters, window sills and kick boards) should be inspected and repaired every year.
7. Decks/porches: Decks made of composites need to be cleaned periodically while wood decks need more maintenance including:   Cleaning to remove dirt and mold using a pressure washer or oxygen bleach, which is safer for home owners to use because you avoid the risk of damaging your deck with the pressure washer. The Paint Doctor offers pressure washing services. Sanding and minor repairs which might include tightening loose boards, replacing nails and replacing boards that are warped or splintering.  You can use a clear, penetrating sealant to protect the wood or stain, which also penetrates the wood, and is easier to maintain allows you to use color to create a more uniform look. Paint, which is not recommended, as it peels quickly and is costly to scrape before you repaint.
8. Foundation: Make a quick visual inspection around your foundation to make sure there are no cracks or gaps where it meets the sill plate. The bottom layer of wood siding is also vulnerable to wood rot when close to the ground or dense shrubs which prevent the wood from drying out.
9. Operability: Spring is a good time to check all of your outdoor lighting, stairs and handrails, as well as water faucets, which might have cracked if they weren’t properly drained in the fall.

You can request a quote from Atlanta’s Paint Doctor today.