With schools and most businesses temporarily closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and government orders for Canadians to stay home to help flatten the curve, people have found themselves with plenty of time on their hands. Just because you’re confined to your home, doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of opportunities to cross those nagging tasks off your list. With spring finally here and seemingly all the time in the world freed up, it’s the perfect time to get a head start on home maintenance tasks.
Yard work lets you get outdoors while still maintaining your distance
After spending weeks at home with little to do, your home can start to feel increasingly restrictive. If you’re looking for an escape, look no further than your yard. Getting outdoors is the perfect solution to cabin fever, and since you’ll be in your yard, you won’t have to worry about not keeping proper distance from others. Getting some yard work done also gives you a great chance to get the kids involved and give them something to do during this downtime.
The snow is quickly melting, giving you a great opportunity to get a head start on yard work – shovelling snow from your yard and raking debris left behind by the winter season are great ways to pass the time. Once your yard is in good shape, you can turn your focus to your gutters. With the rainy season on the way, you’ll want to be sure that leaves and debris are cleared from your gutters and downspouts. While you’re cleaning out your gutters, be sure to cut back tree limbs that are growing too close to your home.
Test and clean your systems
While it’s not the most exciting work, the quarantine gives you an opportunity to ensure that all the systems in your home are working as intended. Testing smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors is highly recommended, as is changing their batteries if at all possible. If you have fire extinguishers in your home, now’s a great time to make sure they’re working – if you don’t have any, you can order some and make sure there’s a working extinguisher on each floor of your home.
You should also check and clean or replace air conditioning filters to ensure that you’re breathing clean air while you’re stuck inside the house. If your home has an HVAC system, cleaning out the drain lines can go a long way in preventing mould from spreading inside your home. Finally, now’s a great time to clean out the lint from your dryers to prevent the threat of dryer fires. This can be done easily by removing the dryer’s hose from the wall and removing lint from the vent with your hand. While you’re at it, you should also head outside to remove any lint from outdoor dryer vents.
Clean, clean, clean
While you’re busy repeatedly cleaning and disinfecting those high touch areas like door knobs and toilet handles, don’t forget to give other areas a good clean as well. This includes your interior windows, drawers, cupboards and pantries, closets, and appliances. Not only are these high touch surfaces that COVID-19 can live on for several hours to several days, but it also gives you a great opportunity to do some spring cleaning during your time at home. Ridding closets, drawers and pantries of unnecessary junk will free up some much needed space and let you channel your inner Marie Kondo.
A note on those high-touch areas; don’t use bleach-based cleaners on brass or other metal surfaces. Brass is especially sensitive, and bleach can cause rust spots. If you want to disinfect these surfaces, give them a quick wipe with rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide and then wipe them down with a moist cloth immediately afterwards.
Landlords can get a handle on mounting maintenance issues
With all of us staying home unless absolutely necessary, routine and non-essential maintenance issues are piling up. Now is a good time for landlords to start sending out surveys to their tenants about what, if any, maintenance issues will need to be dealt with once the crisis has subsided. This will give landlords a better idea of the work that will need to be done during the summer months, allowing them to better prepare for maintenance by scheduling tasks ahead of time and lining up plumbers, electricians, and contractors where they’re needed.
With any luck, all the time and effort you spend completing spring maintenance tasks during quarantine will pay off in spades this summer, letting you soak up the sun worry-free knowing that all is well in your home. For more information about the property management and realty services offered by the experienced team at Highgate Properties, contact us today.
