March Home Maintenance To Do: Clean / Repair your home’s Exterior Siding and Outdoor Decking

The month of March—when temps are beginning to rise but before those April showers—is the ideal time to get down and dirty with those maintenance projects, says J.B. Sassano, president of Mr. Handyman, a commercial and residential repair, maintenance, and improvement franchise. March “home maintenance projects can extend the longevity and improve the quality of your home, inside and out,” he says.

For example, now is the perfect time to get rid of dirt and grime that can cause mildew and shorten the life of your siding. As a bonus, the exterior of your home will look fresh and clean for spring. This is the ideal DIY project, because there’s no need for fancy cleaning solutions or power washers; a bucket of warm, soapy water and a long-handled brush are all you need. Rinse with water from a garden hose, or you could invest in a power hose attachment so you don’t have to climb a ladder to get high or hard to reach spots.  And, if you would rather call in a pro, cleaning the siding on a two-story, 2,500-square-foot house generally runs from $900 to $1,150.

Spring is coming, so clear the decks! Cleaning your deck of leaves and debris—especially between deck boards—prevents staining and reduces the chance of rot. Check for loose boards, and reset protruding nails to keep your deck safe. You can get a flat-bladed screwdriver to pry gunk out from between boards. Use a good deck cleaning product to revive faded and stained boards. Again, if DIY isn’t your thing, a deck-cleaning company charges anywhere from $80 to $480 to clean a 16-by-20-foot deck.  That’s quite a big difference, so do your homework and shop around.

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Photo Credit:  K Quinn Ferris / Shutterstock.com