Spring into March Madness: Home Maintenance Checklist

Cue your best Dick Vitale impression because March Madness is almost here! It’s a great time of year for basketball, for those spring sports, and to get ready for spring! 

Our March Home Maintenance list is here and it has every task you should complete as a homeowner to ensure your casa can handle spring and its weather. 

Change Furnace Filters

This first task is an easy one, because you should have already done it once this year. If you forgot, re-read our January Blog to know what to do, and check this guy off of your list! If you haven’t lived in the DMV before, just trust us. Whatever fake spring came this past week is a farce, we’ll likely have one more cold snap before those Cherry Blossoms and spring truly arrive. The next task is an easy one, yet important one, too.

Change Batteries in Smoke Detectors

Again, you may have done this one already if you checked your smoke detectors in January and noticed that they didn’t work, but just in case, now is the time: change those batteries in your smoke detectors! This is especially important if you have those college kids coming home on spring break and they’re trying to be Emeril. 

Check Exterior Drainage

This next task is new, and it’s extremely important for this time of year. You know that saying, “April showers bring May flowers,” so March is the perfect time of year to check your exterior drainage. Any blockage could lead to flooding when that rainy weather hits. 

You’ll first want to check your driveway, patios, and walkways for settlement cracks and ensure that your house isn’t draining water from downspouts or sump pumps onto the driveway. Simply check for any areas in which water may have the opportunity to sit and collect and see that any changes in elevation or landscape slope away from your home.

Next, you’ll move to the exterior home materials, checking for sagging in the gutters and tightness of gutter nails to the boards. In order to properly check your downspouts for any blockages, grab a yard hose and flush it with water. Check for any signs of dripping underneath your gutter rails. You should be familiar with your gutters if you checked for ice and ice dam conditions last month. Lastly, check your gutter shoes and splash blocks; these should be tightly in place at the bottom of your downspouts and, once again, be directing water away from your house.

Flush Hot Water Heater

  As mentioned in previous blogs, the internet and YouTube is a great resource for this maintenance task to take things step-by-step. Grab your phone and do a quick search for an online tutorial, but your basic steps will be as follows:

1. Turn the water heater off. If yours is electric, you’ll simply turn off the power switch; if it’s gas, turn your thermostat to the pilot setting, which will allow your water to cool down. This is also a task to do when no one is trying to shower, run the dishwasher, or do a load of laundry. 

2. Turn the cold water valve off. This will stop water from coming into the tank.

3. Go be productive or do something else for 1-2 hours. (You need to wait for the water inside of the tank to cool.) The larger your tank, the longer you should wait. Now would be a great time to research technicians for our last checklist item below (hint, hint). 

4. Grab a garden hose (or drain) to attach to the drain valve on the side of the tank. Ensure that you have a tight fit and it is threaded on completely.

5. Place the end of the hose in a bucket or drain. You’ll want a decently-sized bucket or a drain that won’t flood or overflow when you start draining the water heater.

6. Turn on a faucet or two. Turn the hot water on in a couple sinks to stop a vacuum from forming in your pipes, and let them run. Remember, you already turned off the cold water valve, so you won’t see a lot of water coming out. 

7. Start draining your hot water tank. Use a flathead screwdriver, slowly turn the drain valve on, and turn the drain valve on to start draining the tank, ensuring that your drain or bucket is not overflowing. 

8. Wait for all sediment to drain. After the tank is drained completely, turn the drain valve off and remove the hose. Turn the cold water valve back to fill your tank again and turn the heating element back to the on position. Go to your faucets you turned on and wait until they return to a normal flow and then turn them off. 

9. Check for hot water again once you’ve waited 30-45 minutes.

Get A/C Serviced

Lastly, you’ll want to hire a technician to come and do a maintenance check on your A/C unit. While you could potentially do everything yourself, this is one instance where it would be worth the peace of mind and the relatively low maintenance check-up cost, as your technician may see something that could potentially become an issue and let you know whether your unit is running efficiently, how much life is left in your unit, and other variables. This is especially important if you’ve purchased your home in the last few months and haven’t had the unit checked since your home inspection. 

On average, having a technician out for annual maintenance averages between $100 and $150, and it’s worth it to most homeowners as they’ll likely complete all of the following during the visit: replace the air filter (you can handle this the other months, and now would be a great time to ask about the right filters for your unit); clean evaporator and condenser coils; inspect and clean drain line and drain pan; check blower and condenser fans (and potentially add some oil); inspect electrical controls and wires; check the unit thermostat(s); and inspect and clean your air registers and ductwork. 

Check your local Angie’s List, Google reviews, or the Nextdoor app to see who is recommended in your particular area. 

That’s it for March; it’s a lot, but it’s important to tackle before that springtime weather! If we can help assist in any way, let us know!