Spring Cleaning your house

As always when you have to perform some heavy cleaning consider setting up a plan for who will do what and when. A good rule to follow is to first inspect the house and see what needs to get done. Walk through your house with some gloves, flashlight and a notepad. Look around for anything that looks out of place or damaged and write down areas that need cleaning or further expert analysis.

But before you get down to scrubbing and vacuuming here are some suggestions as to what you may not have considered to look at.

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms
It is recommended that you change the batteries to these alarms once a year and it would be smart to make it part of your spring cleaning list. In fact get used to the idea of changing them same time that you change your clocks ahead for daylight savings. But don’t forget to actually check to see if your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are actually working on a monthly basis.

Perform a Mold Inspection
Mold should be carefully inspected for while cleaning the house. If they grow unseen they are detrimental to your health by compromising your immune system. Check for mold in an area where there is water leak or pipe burst, behind washers, under sinks and around the house where water leak is suspected.

Clean Your Chimney
It depends upon your use of your wood-burning fireplace, but if it is frequent at bare minimum it’s recommended that you get your chimney professionally cleaned once a year.

Clean Your Dryer and Laundry Room
You may think that cleaning the lint trap maybe enough, but this is not true. For one thing the lint catcher doesn’t maintain all the lint from your dryer. Vacuuming the inside of the dryer where the trap is located is a good idea. You can also use a brush to clean this area. But cleaning the exhaust hose behind the dryer is also recommended. You want to also inspect the hose and make sure that it doesn’t have any cracks and that it is as straight as possible. If you have the time you can also clean the hose by turning your dryer off and disconnecting the hose from the back of the dryer. Cleaning the exhaust hose will increase the drying efficiency and reduce fire danger from lint.

Inspect the Paint
You may also want to check the outside of the house for paint cracks. This can accelerate the deterioration of the paint on the house if it is not treated correctly. If you notice a spot you want to scrape the area, put some primer, and then paint.