What Should You Check on Your Home This Spring?

Winter is hard on a house, and spring is the moment to take stock. Snow, ice, and the freeze-thaw cycle leave damage behind, and in early spring it is usually subtle: a few lifted shingles, a hairline crack, a panel that has worked slightly loose.

Those small things grow fast once spring rain and summer heat arrive. Walking your property now, while it is all still fresh, means fixing little problems instead of paying for big ones in July.

Here is what to look at, area by area. One morning is all it takes.

Start with the roof

Your roof took the worst of it, so start there.

From the ground, with binoculars — not from a ladder, and not on the roof itself:

• Shingles that are missing, cracked, curled, or lifted at the edges
• Flashing around chimneys and vents, which ice and wind routinely loosen
• Granules collecting in your gutters, which is a sign the shingles are wearing out
• Leaves and debris blocking the gutters, so spring rain has nowhere to go

Then go inside. Check the attic and the upstairs ceilings for water stains or damp spots. A stain that appears in spring often means a leak that started in winter.

Catching roof damage now, before the spring storms, is the single most valuable thing on this list. A small roof problem becomes an interior problem faster than almost anything else in a house.

Check the siding and trim

Walk the perimeter slowly and actually look at the walls.

Winter moisture and temperature swings crack, warp, and loosen panels, and they pull caulk away from windows and doors. Look for gaps, cracks, and any section that has come loose, especially on the side of the house that takes the worst weather.

Check the trim, soffit, and fascia too. These are the places water finds first.

Gaps in siding let moisture and cold air behind the wall, and what happens back there is invisible until it is expensive. Sealing small gaps in spring is cheap. Replacing rotted sheathing is not.

Inspect the concrete

Freeze-thaw is brutal on concrete, so check the driveway, the walkways, the patio, and the steps.

• New cracks, or old cracks that got noticeably wider over the winter
• Surface flaking or pitting, which means water got into the surface and froze
• Sections that have lifted, sunk, or gone uneven, which is a trip hazard and a drainage problem
• Steps that have shifted or feel loose underfoot

Small cracks can often be sealed before water gets in and makes them bigger next winter. That is the whole game with concrete: keep the water out.

Walk the fence line

Fences move in winter. Ground freezes, ground thaws, posts shift.

Look for posts that lean, panels that have come loose, and wood that has gone soft or grey. And check the gates: a gate that drags or will not latch cleanly is telling you the post moved, and that is worth fixing before the whole line goes with it.

Do not forget drainage

Gutters, downspouts, and grading are what keep water away from your foundation.

Clear the gutters, make sure the downspouts actually direct water away from the house rather than dumping it at the base of the wall, and look for any place where the ground slopes toward the foundation instead of away from it.

An enormous share of the expensive problems we get called about start as a drainage problem that nobody looked at.

What to do with what you find

Most of what you spot in spring is small and cheap to handle. Some of it is not, and the difference is worth knowing early.

If you find something and you are not sure how serious it is, we will come and look. The inspection is free, the estimate is in writing, and if the honest answer is that it can wait, we will tell you that.

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