Planning Your Home Improvement Year

It’s a great time to begin planning the maintenance and upkeep on your home for the coming spring. Whether your home is brand new, or older, there are several areas of exterior home repair that may need your attention in the coming months. A solid list of priorities and plan of action can make taking care of your home a breeze.

• Examination – Take time to do a walk around of your home and property. Check for peeling paint, dark spots on wood, caulking and weather stripping gaps, landscaping problems, sagging gutters, rotting or warped deck planks and cracks in concrete and other stone structures. Make a list of problem areas.
  
  
• Prioritize – Look at your list and decide what is most important to tackle first. A good rule of thumb is to determine if the issue is simply cosmetic, like ideas for a new garden, or if the problem could create costly repairs down the line, like broken roof slates or clogged gutters.
  
  
• Budget – Take a realistic look at your monthly budget and begin setting aside the money now to take care of your top priorities. Your home is the single largest investment you make each month. Planning for small maintenance expenses now will save you money later by avoiding larger repairs. Some small repairs, like weather stripping, caulking and windows may even save on your monthly heating and cooling bills.
  
  
• Write out a Plan – Once you know what needs to be done, what is most important, and you have a budget in place to get the work done, write it all down. Written plans have the benefit of providing motivation to stick to the plan when you’d rather splurge on that new TV, and giving a sense of satisfaction as less visible items on the list get checked off.

Exterior home repair doesn’t have to be a major headache. Home repair and remodel services will gladly help and also ensure that the job is done properly. Taking the time now to chart your course will give you peace of mind and protect your biggest investment in the year ahead.