Inspectopro’s Spring Checklist for Your Home
Now that the warmer months are on our doorstep, it would be prudent to make sure that your home, both indoors and outdoors, adjusts to the change of seasons. Inspectopro’s Allan White says “Being pro-active is the goal in protecting your home and its contents against the most common invader – water.”
Some easy things to look for:
1. Make sure that runoff from melting ice and snow has somewhere to go; ideally a catch basin or storm drain
2. If you can, shovel salt-laden snow left by your snow-clearing contractor or the city off your front lawn, since the salt will upset the pH balance of the soil and make it difficult for grass to grow.
3. Be sure that your home’s drainage system is functioning. If you have a flat roof, be sure that meltwater can reach the roof drain. If the perimeter of the drain is blocked with leaves (or any other vegetable matter) from last fall, clean away a small portion so that the water can gently flow into the drain. Never unblock it all at once, otherwise the pressure of all that inflowing water could cause it to spew up from the basement
4. If you have a shingled roof, be sure that ice and snow does not accumulate excessively at the eaves and valleys. Back-ups of ice and snow can cause water to penetrate the roof and leak into the attic
5. Check the eavestroughs (“gutters”) for physical damage which might have been caused by winter ice dam and icicle formation
6. Watch for water infiltration in the basement from window wells which may be blocked, or from a failed or poorly functioning foundation drain (also known as a French drain), or from cracks.
7. If your home is equipped with backwater traps for the wastewater and drainage system, verify that they are functional.
8. Now is a good time to check the condition of your roof. Once the snow is gone, there is a demand for roofer sand you wouldn’t want to be caught waiting for months.
9. Remember that at areas where water penetrates and stagnates, mold can grow.
10. If the outdoor temperature is above 10ºc (50ºF), you can check the functionality of your air conditioning system. Better to find out now it is faulty than during the heat of summer
11. Check that your window screens are in a state of good repair and ready for re-installation
12. If you have an air exchanger, it can soon be turned off (remember that such systems draw outdoor air into the home in order to reduce the home’s humidity level; in the heat of summer, you will be drawing warm, humid air rather than cool, dry air into the home if the system is still in use)
13. Keep an eye out for burrowing animals which may have hibernated through the winter beneath your front porch, rear sun deck, garden shed, etc.
If you want to make sure your house is in tip top shape (not just when you are buying or selling), here’s my advice, call Inspectopro .
Tel: 514-696-6685
http://www.inspectopro.com
