Exterior spring maintenance your home needs now

This year, perhaps more than most, we're ready for the longer, warmer days of spring. Your home is likely feeling winter's strain, too, with months of rain and snow quietly taking a toll on everything from its roof to foundation.

To catch potential problems while they're small and easier to fix, go top to bottom and check these six areas:

1.     Roofs. 

If moss is growing on your roof, treat it with an anti-moss formula especially for roofs. Avoid home remedies like sprinkling laundry soap, which can do more harm than good. Besides looking unsightly, moss can significantly shorten your roof's lifespan. As with any project involving heights, ladders and potentially slippery surfaces, be sure you can handle it safely. If in doubt, contact a roof maintenance company to de-moss it for you. A bonus of hiring it done: While the roof professionals are up there, they can check the overall condition of your roof and alert you to any fixes needed.

2.     Gutters and downspouts. 

A winter's worth of blowing needles and leaves may have left your gutters or downspouts clogged. Plugged, overflowing gutters are as bad as no gutters at all, since rainwater spills over the top, potentially damaging your home's siding on its way to soaking your foundation and, perhaps, creeping into your crawlspace. Here's how to clean gutters safely. Do it twice a year – spring and fall – and more often if you live in a wooded setting.

3.     Wood siding.

Exposed wood is vulnerable wood. If winter's wind-driven rain tends to blast one part of your home more than the others, you'll need to repaint that side more often. To ensure good paint and latex caulk adhesion, plan your project when temperatures aren't forecast to drop below 50 degrees and there isn't a heavy coating of morning dew. You can apply silicone caulking almost any time as long as the surface is frost-free and the weather's dry.

4.     Outdoor faucets. 

The pipes leading to your outdoor faucets are vulnerable to freezing and bursting. The damage may not reveal itself until the first time you use your hose in the spring. If you turn on the water but nothing comes out, make sure that it's not running inside your walls.

5.     Decks. 

Clean mildew from your decks using a product formulated especially for decks or with a pressure washer. If you use water, take care the pressure isn't turned up so high that it damages the wood fibers. Replace any loose or rotting boards and, once you're finished, apply a fresh coat of sealer or stain (if recommended by the manufacturer of your type of decking product).

6.     Foundations. 

Not every foundation crack is a cause for worry, but you do want to keep an eye on them. If you notice them getting bigger or more numerous, they're larger than one-quarter inch, you see new cracks in your interior walls or your doors or windows stick, get your foundation checked by a professional.