Beyond the gutters: Cleaning tasks you should tackle now

Each year, cleaning the gutters consistently lands at the top of the spring cleaning list and for good reason. By clearing out leaves and other debris, you protect your roof and living space from potentially disastrous water leaks. If you want to prevent other costly and time-consuming home repairs, you have to think beyond the gutters, however, to all the other areas of your house. Here’s a rundown of the oft-overlooked spring cleaning tasks that can protect you from major issues in the future.

Clean out your smoke detectors

Dust, pollen and other debris can build up in smoke detectors, rendering their sensors nearly useless. Eventually, the buildup causes false alarms or causes the detector to malfunction altogether. You can keep this problem at bay by committing to a twice a year cleaning schedule coinciding with battery changes. And it is easy, too. All you have to do clean out the dust and debris is blow out the case with compressed air.  

Clear window weep holes

At the bottom of your window frames are weep holes that allow water to drip away from the seals. As they become clogged with dirt and grime, however, the water could leak inside your house, damaging the drywall and other building materials. To prevent this issue, clean the weep holes with a small bit of wire or by spraying them out with compressed air.

Brush off refrigerator coils

Your refrigerator has a network of coils along the back that cycle refrigerant through the system, keeping all your food at the proper temperature. As these coils operate, they attract dust and debris at a rapid rate. When this happens, the refrigerator cannot release heat and has to cycle the compressor on much more frequently.

Each of these spring cleaning tasks only takes a few minutes to complete and provides lasting benefits through every season. So, put them on your list and get them done to prevent costly problems in the future.