Coping with Confinement: Home Improvement tasks to Welcome Spring

March 25th, 2020

Spring is coming to Minnesota.  Make the most of social distancing with tasks that can help your family improve your yard and home –as well as your outlook.

As we’ve been increasingly confined to our homes recently, two things have become readily apparent. We need to stay productive and we could all use a distraction.   

It, therefore, presents the perfect storm to finally tackle maintenance tasks on your home. By acting now you can arrive this spring, ready to enjoy the best seasons Minnesota has to offer. 

So let’s make some proverbial lemonade.

Below are five often-overlooked spring maintenance tasks that will set our sights on the future, get us up, moving, and proactive:

1. Declutter & Organize

You have perhaps never been more in tune with everything in your home than you are today. A winter spent indoors combined with social distancing concerns likely have your to-do list writing itself.  

Make sure decluttering is on the top of that list:

• Does every space have a purpose and the furniture to support it? Perhaps a reading nook, craft room, or a laundry space are misconfigured. Organizing and reimagining can help you know for sure.
• Are your storage areas easy to navigate? Can you find what you need? Hardware and holiday decorations are notorious organization busters
• Is everything sitting out on your kitchen counters necessary and left out intentionally?
• How about your wardrobe? What can you live without? Invest the time to swap out winter clothes for spring/summer gear with purpose. Make a donation pile and let someone else enjoy some of your things.

2. Prep Your Lawn

Summer is full of distractions and fun, making lawn care a grind and a chore. What are some steps you can take now to set yourself up for a better experience?

• Change the oil, filter and spark plug in your mower
• Organize your shed. Instead of just pulling out your grill and stowing your fat tire bike, take the time to downsize and configure the space
• Send the kids out to pick up a winter’s worth of fallen branches
• Turn on your outside water spigots, blow out sprinklers and test run your irrigation system

 3. Configure Outdoor Space

You invested in a patio, deck, fire pit and lawn furniture. Protect those investments with annual maintenance:

• Arrange, clean and assess your lawn furniture, will it all last another season?
• Clean your grilling surface and grill. If your grill is gas, test for leaks using soapy water and refill your LP tank
• Prep your fire pit for a season of use with a thorough cleaning 

4. Wash Your Windows

Is there a more maligned chore than washing our windows? And yet, the value of clean windows cannot be overlooked. Spring is the season where we finally have something worth looking at outside, it’s best we’re not gazing through a season’s worth of smudges and dirt:

• Pros use a simple bucket, two gallons of water, a teaspoon of dish soap, a scrubber pad and squeegee (vinegar is optional)
• Extendable wands can help eliminate a ladder from the equation
• Remove screens and douse them with the blast of water from a simple garden hose
•  Don’t forget interior blinds– a pair of kitchen tongs wrapped in towels can simplify this chore

5.  Clean Gutters and Downspouts

It seems like only yesterday you were on a ladder risking life and limb to pull leaves from your gutters and run water through your downspouts. Luckily there are services that can do this work for you. Sadly, it is time to schedule that work yet again:

• Ensure gutters are clean and tilted properly to support drainage
• Clear downspouts and make sure water runs away from your home
• Assess your shingles and chimney for issues following a long winter

The Bottom Line

The benefits of homeownership are many, but they come with some inevitable maintenance tasks. Like most things in life, being proactive is the key to ensuring longevity. Now is the time to set the stage for another year.  

Due to unique circumstances, you have the ability to hit the ground running for spring 2020. A little care now can go a long way toward enjoying another year in a great home or an upcoming sale of your home when it hits the market.

If your house no longer feels like home and you are looking to step up your maintenance-free game, we have many options throughout the metro. A new construction quality-built Centra Home may be just the cure to replace a home that no longer fits your lifestyle.  

Our active communities include styles for first time buyers, upmarket buyers and downsizers alike– with home warranties included with every purchase.  

Check out Our Communities page for details, and know that even in these unprecedented times we are working hard to keep you safe throughout the homebuying process.