What should I check around the house in spring?
The annual walk round that finds winter damage while it is still small and cheap.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 3 hr
- Read
- 2 min
- Safety
- warning
Short answer
Walk the outside of the house looking for what winter did — gutters, roof, pointing, fences and drains — then check the things you stopped using: outside taps, garden tools, and the boiler's summer behaviour.
Winter causes damage that is invisible until it rains hard or until it has spread. Spring is when it is cheapest to find, and a systematic walk round takes an afternoon.
Safety
Step by step
- Walk the perimeter and look up.Binoculars from the ground. Slipped or missing tiles, sagging gutters, cracked or missing pointing, damaged flashing around chimneys. Photograph anything questionable so you can compare next year.
- Clear the gutters and check the downpipes.Winter fills them with leaves and grit. Run a hose and watch where the water goes — an overflowing gutter saturates a wall all year and causes damp inside.
- Check the drains and gullies.Lift the covers, clear leaves and silt from the gullies, and check water runs away freely. Five minutes now against a blockage in a storm.
- Check fences, gates and outbuildings.Push each fence post firmly — movement means rot at ground level. Check shed roofs for leaks and gates for dropped hinges. All are easier to fix in dry weather.
- Turn the outside tap back on and check it.If it was isolated for winter, turn it back on and check for leaks — freeze damage shows the moment pressure returns. Check the hose and any irrigation too.
- Check for signs of damp inside.Corners of external walls, behind furniture, in cupboards, and in the loft. Winter condensation leaves marks that are easiest to spot before the house dries out in summer.
- Service the garden equipment.Mower blade sharpened, oil changed, fuel drained if it sat all winter. Tools cleaned and sharpened. Doing it now means the first dry weekend is not spent on maintenance.
- Test the alarms and check the loft.Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms tested and batteries changed. In the loft: daylight through the roof, damp on timbers, and any sign of animals having moved in over winter.
Tips
- Do it on a dry day after heavy rain if you can. Water problems are far easier to see while they are actually happening.
- Keep a note of what you checked and found, with photographs. Year-on-year comparison is what catches slow deterioration.
- Book any trade work now. Roofers and gardeners are far busier from May onwards, and prices reflect it.
Questions people ask
What is the most important spring maintenance job?
Clearing the gutters and checking the roof from the ground. Water getting in is what causes the expensive damage, and both are visible from outside.
How do I check a roof without going up there?
Binoculars from the ground on all four sides, and a look in the loft on a bright day with the light off — daylight through the roof shows exactly where the gaps are.