Our Winter Home Maintenance Tips And Preparing Your Home For Spring
I thought it might be handy to write a winter home maintenance tips blog to help keep you busy and prepare you for the arrival of Spring! While we're waiting for the lighter nights to return, it's a good time to take stock and think about the year ahead. Perhaps consider any plans you may have for home and garden maintenance… it's never too early!
Exterior Winter Home Maintenance And Preparing Your Garden For Spring
Prepare Your Garden
When it comes to gardening there are some important jobs that should be done to prepare for the arrival of spring. Read our Top 5 Tips to Prepare Your Garden for Spring, to find out how you can ensure your garden is ready.
Get Organised
While there is still frost outside the last thing on your mind will be getting your hands dirty in the garden. However, if you're planning to have help of a gardener you will need to call them now to secure dates. Come Spring you will find that most gardeners and landscapers will, most likely, be fully booked right through to Autumn. So don't leave it too late to call! If you're looking for a local reputable business take a look at our gardeners, landscapers and tree surgeons. All of whom have been vetted and recommended by the Quick Find team.
Submit Building Plans
Thinking of extending or renovating in the Spring or Summer? Then now is the perfect time to get planning! People often forget that the planning process takes a while in itself, which can straight away lead to projects running behind schedule. Planning is exciting too so what better way to treat those January blues than dreaming up your perfect house!
When you have an idea of what you would like, get in touch with an architect. An architect will draw up building plans and submit them for planning permission. Once the plans have been submitted it can take up to 13 weeks to be approved. As soon as plans are approved you can start looking for trades people to get some quotes. It is wise to call a few businesses and get a handful of quotes. Don't forget to ask to see some of their previous work. You can then make comparisons and choose a business that is most suited to you and what you're looking for. Find local architects in my area.
Many trades are busy and are booked up months in advance, so don't delay in calling to get booked in!
If you are looking for someone to take on a complete renovation, take a look at our vetted and approved builders or our home improvements teams.
Interior Winter Home Maintenance And Preparing Your Home For Spring
Keep Condensation To A Minimum
During the winter months condensation is an increasingly common problem in homes. This is because there is excess water vapour in the air that cannot escape. The reason why this is worse in winter can be due to lack of ventilation, inadequate heating and poor insulation.
Condensation can lead to unsightly mould patches, and can rot or damage surfaces or structures, which isn't cheap to repair. As well as damaging our homes, condensation and damp can both contribute to respiratory health problems.
Read our tips to keep condensation to a minimum and prevent damp
Watch Out For Damp
During the winter months keep an eye out for damp patches, mould spots, patches or spores. There are two types of damp to look out for: rising damp and penetrating damp:
Rising damp stems from groundwater rising up through walls and floors. This causes damp patches, peeling wallpaper, mould, or marks at ground level. If you think you have a rising damp problem contact one of our local damp proofing specialists and get professional advice. It is better to get it sorted as soon as possible before any more damage occurs.
Penetrating damp usually occurs with inadequate insulation or structural damage. This can be anything from faulty guttering or roofing to cracks in walls, or internal pipe leaks. It shows up as patches on walls and ceilings. The first thing to do if you think you have a penetrative damp problem is to identify what might be causing it. Check everything in and around the property, look at roofing, walls, guttering, pipes, fascias, rendering and window frames. Some problems can be easily fixed, for example clearing blocked guttering and re-sealing cracked rendering. However, sometimes you will need a professional opinion. If that's the case our local trusted traders would be happy to come and check it out for you.
Prevent Your Pipes From Freezing
Preparing your home for Spring still means accounting for freezing temperatures, this is England after all! There are ways you can prevent your pipes from freezing. Pipe insulation, cutting off the water supply and keeping pipes warm are all good ways to prevent freezing. With a little research you can find out what you need to buy and how to insulate your pipes yourself. This is definitely worth taking the time to do. As previously mentioned, another simple and effective way to prevent pipes from freezing is to keep them warm. Do this by keeping your heating on constant or setting your thermostat set to at least 5-10 degrees.
Going away and don't want run up a huge heating bill? Turn your water supply off at the source instead. You will need to locate the stopcock in your house, this is a valve for turning the cold water system on and off. Turn the stopcock clockwise to switch the water supply off and anti-clockwise to switch it back on. It is handy to know where the stopcock is anyway for future reference so that if you do have any problems with burst pipes you know how to turn the water supply off.
Winter Revamp
Is it just me or does everything look a bit bland after the sparkle of Christmas has been removed? Perhaps it’s time for a makeover. Amazing what a newly decorated room, new flooring or a fresh carpet can do to liven up a dull space. Here at Quick Find we have a selection of reputable painters and decorators and carpet and flooring suppliers. Let them turn your plans into reality!
Take Back Your Kitchen
Has all the festive cooking taken it's toll on your kitchen? Cooking Christmas dinner for all the family is a great way to spend some quality time together, however it's not the best way to keep your kitchen in tip top condition! The best time to get cleaning is now, because once spring arrives our thoughts will be consumed with getting out and about and prepping the garden for Summer!
Don't forget the oven – you can give it a good old scrub yourself (if you're feeling energetic). If that's not your style then we have some fantastic oven cleaners that will make your oven dazzle like new! Find local oven cleaners in your area.
Extending from the kitchen, maybe you feel your whole house could do with a bit of a spritz? Take a look at our 'Top 10 spring cleaning tips' blog and make your home dazzle!
If cleaning's not your forte then by all means call in the calvery and give one of our domestic cleaners a call for a complete Spring clean.
How can Quick Find help?
If you need a professional to help with your winter home maintenance, make sure the businesses you use are reliable, trustworthy and registered with relevant trade bodies. Quick Find can help you find many or all of the trades people you need including carpenters, tilers, flooring services, double glazing, plasterers , roofers and many more.
All of our traders must pass a certain criteria to advertise with us, so you can rest assured you will receive professional, quality service. Read more about our vetting process here.
Search now via the homepage; it’s as simple as selecting the type of business you are looking for and your area, and we will provide you with trusted and recommended traders local to you.
If you're not used to hiring trades people and are not sure what you should be asking, take a look at our previous blog: 'Looking for local trusted traders? Here are our top questions to ask when getting a quote'. Now you should be feeling confident to get out there and get some quotes, good luck!
Before we know it, the school half term holiday will be upon us, are you ready for the barrage of “what are we doing today Mum”?! We will soon be updating our 'February Half Term Activities West Midlands' blog so keep an eye out for that!