Wintertime can prove harsh on your home. From the exterior being battered by the rugged Canadian climate to short days making interior projects last longer than needed, the summer is the perfect time to refresh your home.
Here are some of the best home improvement projects to tackle this summer, taking advantage of longer days and the holiday season and ensuring your home is ship-shape and watertight ahead of fall and winter.
Check your walls and basement for leaks
The dryer weather is the perfect time to check your home for signs of leaks or water damage in your exterior walls and basement. With the Canadian winter climate offering plenty of dampness, it’s easy for moisture to get into the walls and basement, potentially causing severe damage.
Cracks in your walls and water in the basement after a dry spell can be signs of water damage. Waterproofing your exterior walls and basement is a summer home improvement activity that is more expensive than others but can be a wise investment in the longer term.
Renovate your bathroom
Further upstairs in your home, summer is also the ideal time to renovate your bathroom, with the warmer, dryer weather particularly helpful. Project times are shorter than during the winter due to the longer daylight hours that allow for extended work hours. At the same time, higher temperatures also help paint, adhesives, grout, and sealant dry faster.
Indeed, you can also take advantage of the holiday season by booking your renovation project while you’re on vacation to minimise disruption to your everyday life and avoid the upheaval of being without washing facilities during the hot, sticky summer and living among a dusty construction site.
Pressure wash your walls and yard
Winter weather is rarely kind to outdoor areas, with dirt, grime, and debris scattered across your home’s exterior walls and yards. Summer is ideal for grabbing your pressure washer or hiring one for a few hours if you don’t own one and thoroughly cleaning your external brickwork, pathways, and terraces.
Remember to aim the nozzle downwards when cleaning external walls to prevent water from entering cracks or seams in the house. If using a pressure washer on more delicate surfaces that could be damaged, such as painted walls or wooden decking, use a lower pressure setting to avoid damage.
Declutter your home
There’s nothing new about spring cleaning, thoroughly cleaning your house from floor to ceiling and decluttering as you go. However, delaying a couple of months to clear your home of unnecessary items you no longer need or use means you can get outside and tackle your shed, basement, and garage.
Clearing your home of clutter gives it a much-needed lift, almost as good as a fresh coat of paint, and, best of all, it costs absolutely nothing. Indeed, it could even make you money if you sell things you no longer need on eBay or hold a yard sale, giving you money to put toward your next home improvement job.
Uplift your house’s aesthetic appeal with a new paint job
While taking a paintbrush to your home’s interior can be a job for any time of the year, bigger paint jobs, such as re-touching or completely repainting the exterior walls, are one for the longer summer days.
While the better weather makes summer the perfect time to work outdoors, the higher temperatures can help transform your walls, using the adage “less is more” by allowing the paint to cure correctly and last longer.
And if you want to take advantage of a top tip, painting at least part, if not all, of your house white can help make it look bigger, brighter, and more attractive to passersby.
Re-stain and re-finish outdoor wood
Pressure washing your exterior wooden items, such as fences, sheds, and decking, can help remove debris and stains, yet there’s nothing like a fresh coat of creosote or varnish to freshen them up.
While re-staining and re-finishing your decking, outhouses, and fences will make your exterior wood look as good as new, it also reduces cracks and splinters, making them friendlier to the skin when you touch them.
Clean the wood and sand off the old, tired finish before applying the new coat. Not only will everything look beautiful and perfect for entertaining during the summer, but it will also weatherproof the wood for the harsh winter climate.
Get landscaping
There’s nothing better than spending time outside, soaking up the sun and enjoying the beautiful weather. So, why not spend some time taking on simple, cheap DIY improvements to your front yard or back garden to make you want to spend time outside?
Remove weeds, trim back foliage, re-soil flower beds, repot plants, refresh gravel areas, and remove dead plants, shrubs, or trees to increase the appeal of your outdoor spaces for you, your family, and people passing by.
Adding colour is a great way of elevating your outdoor spaces to the next level, and adding some gorgeous patio furniture doesn’t have to break the bank while giving you somewhere to sit and admire the beauty of your little natural oasis.
Clean your windows
Modern methods have made cleaning windows easier than ever before. You no longer have to brave heights while climbing ladders to reach upstairs; instead, you can clean your exterior windows with several novel new methods.
Extendable poles are a great way of reaching high-up spaces. Alternatively, invest in magnetic or robotic window cleaners to remove the danger. You’ll immediately feel the benefit of crystal-clean windows, boosting your home’s curb appeal and allowing more natural light to flow into your indoor spaces.
After the long, hard months of a Canadian winter, taking time during the summer to take on renovation and home improvement jobs can make a massive difference to you and your home.
While your house benefits from improved curb appeal, attracting admiring glances from onlookers and neighbours, you can reap the benefits of having a home that’s not only standing proud during long, bright summer days but is also winter-ready.
