Doing routine maintenance on your home can help avoid costly repairs in the future. Lou Manfredini, Ace's Home Expert, is back with his monthly list of what to do to your home this month.
What To Do To Your Home In August
This month's five items focus on outside needs as we're seeing the last few weeks of warm temperatures. Be sure to knock these five things off your list in August.
Clean Out Your Window Weep Holes. You probably never heard of them, but cleaning these out keeps your windows from deteriorating from water. These small holes located on the bottom edge of storm-window frames, helps water drain out from your windows. If they become blocked by debris and water collects, your windows could rot. Use an air duster to clean these holes out.
Aerate Your Lawn. By aerating your lawn you allow nutrients to reach beneath the grass and help your yard thrive. You’ve got several affordable options when it comes to aerating, a manual device like this one, that strap to your shoes, are perfect to use when you’re mowing.
Give you’re A/C Unit A Quick Clean. After a long summer of running, it’s time to give your air-conditioner a quick clean From lawn clippings to leaves, it’s time to give it a clean to keep it working properly vs. overworking. Shut the system off and use a hose and sprayer and start and the top and clean it off with just water. This will boost efficiency and help keep an emergency repair from being needed. And while you’re at it, make sure the filter is clean as well.
Seal Your Deck. If you have a wood deck, sealing a deck annually is a great way to keep it in shape and avoid board or full structure repairs. Sealing your deck improves the life of your entertaining space.
Check Your Trees and Trim Your Bushes. Dead tree limbs and branches pose a danger in the winter. Ice, weight of snow and winter storms could cause these to break and damage your home or impact your power. With the weather still decent, safely trim these areas to reduce possible impact to your home. Then, prune shrubs and bushes to give them an attractive shape for the winter and get ready for spring grown. If you have plants in areas where you will be placing ice melt, you may want to consider covering these with canvas to avoid burning from the ice melt.
Published on 4/18/2022.
Always follow manufacturer's instructions before using any product.
These “How-To’s” are provided for informational purposes only. The information contained in Ace Hardware’s “how-to” videos and/or articles is intended to provide general guidelines for projects in and outside of your home. Tools, products, materials, techniques, building codes, local regulations are continually changing. Ace Hardware assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained herein and disclaims any liability for the omissions, errors or the outcome of any project. It is the responsibility of the viewer to ensure compliance with all applicable laws, rules, codes and regulations for a project and the product being used. The viewer must always take proper safety precautions and exercise caution when taking on any project or using materials of said project. If you have any questions, concerns, or doubts regarding any element of what is displayed in the videos and/or articles, contact a licensed professional.
