Spring Cleaning – More Than Just Cleaning – It's A Home Inspection
Spring cleaning not only refreshes your home from the stale winter air, but it also provides you with an opportunity to complete an inspection of your home once a year. Here, you'll find a few things to keep an eye out for as you complete your long spring cleaning checklist.
Water Damage
Your spring cleaning should include moving the boxes and bins that you have stored around the house. These boxes and bins may be concealing water damage in the walls and on the floors.
As you're cleaning, gently slide the boxes or bins away from the wall. Look carefully at the walls and floors as well as the boxes and bins that you've moved. If you see that there's any sign of water damage — darker areas of wood, concrete, or cardboard — then you'll need to spend some time looking further into where that moisture came from.
Inspect the pipes in the area to make sure that the moisture isn't coming from a leaking pipe. If you find no leaks, the problem is hidden behind the walls or under the flooring. At this point, it would be best for you to contact a water damage restoration professional to complete an inspection, make the necessary repairs, and put a stop to the moisture issue before it becomes a serious problem.
Cracks in Concrete or Plaster
As you wipe down the walls in both the basement and the main living areas of the home, you need to pay attention for any cracks that may have appeared in the concrete or the finished walls. If cracks form and you fail to notice, the problem will continue to worsen – the problem could be a simple issue, but it could also be the first sign that your home's foundation is compromised and needs to be inspected and repaired.
Rodent Entry Points
All it takes is one small hole in the wall for rodents to find their way into your home. As you clean out the cabinets, closets, and corners, pay special attention for any signs that rodents have moved in with you. Look for droppings, chewed wood, and wads of material that the rodents have made into their beds. If you see any signs of rodent intrusions, contact a pest control specialist to make sure that the intrusion doesn't turn into a full-blown invasion.
Spring cleaning is more than just washing the windows, wiping down walls, and refreshing your home — it's about undoing all of the damage that has occurred over the past year.