8 Home Maintenance Tasks to Do Before Summer Gets Here
Summer doesn’t ease you in. One week it’s mild, and the next your AC is running nonstop, your yard is fighting you, and something you forgot about all spring is suddenly a problem. The good news: a few hours of attention right now can prevent most of the expensive surprises that hit homeowners in July and August.
Here are eight tasks worth doing in early June, before the heat, the storms, and the bugs make everything harder.
1. Test Your AC Before You Actually Need It
If you haven’t run your air conditioner yet this year, turn it on now, not during the first 95-degree day when every HVAC technician in your area is booked out two weeks. Listen for unusual sounds, check that it’s cooling effectively, and swap the filter if it’s been three months or more. A service call in June is easier to get and often cheaper than one in July.
(Already covered pre-season AC prep? See our [May post](https://www.myvitalhome.com/blog/what-to-check-before-you-turn-on-your-ac-for-the-first-time-this-year) for a full walkthrough.)
2. Clean Your Dryer Vent
This one gets skipped constantly, and it’s a genuine fire hazard. The lint trap catches most of it, but lint accumulates in the duct behind your dryer over time, and summer’s extra laundry loads (beach towels, kids’ clothes, more frequent washing) accelerate the buildup. Disconnect the duct, clean it out, and make sure the exterior vent flap opens and closes freely. The whole job takes about 20 minutes.
3. Check for Pest Entry Points
Ants, roaches, and mosquitoes don’t need much of an invitation. Walk the perimeter of your home and seal any cracks or gaps around the foundation, windows, doors, and utility penetrations. Even a 1/16-inch gap is enough for ants to enter. While you’re at it, move firewood and mulch at least 20 feet from the house. Both attract termites and moisture. If you haven’t had a termite inspection in the last year or two, June is a good time to schedule one. Termite damage is not covered by standard homeowner’s insurance.
4. Flush Your Water Heater
Sediment builds up at the bottom of your water heater tank over time, reducing efficiency and shortening its lifespan. Flushing it once a year, which involves connecting a hose to the drain valve and running water through until it clears, takes about 30 minutes and can add years to the unit’s life. If your water heater is over 10 years old and you’ve never done this, it’s worth doing now before the increased hot water demand of summer hits.
5. Inspect Your Roof and Gutters
Spring storms may have left damage you haven’t noticed yet. From the ground (or safely from a ladder if you’re comfortable), look for missing or curling shingles, sagging areas, or granules collecting in your gutters (a sign that asphalt shingles are breaking down). Clean the gutters if you didn’t in April. Summer thunderstorms will test whatever shape they’re in.
6. Check Window and Door Seals
Air leaks around windows and doors are a year-round energy drain, but they’re especially costly in summer when your AC is working hard. Run your hand around the edges of exterior windows and doors on a warm day, you can often feel the air gap. Weatherstripping is inexpensive and easy to replace, and recaulking a window takes minutes. Small fixes here show up on your utility bill.
7. Test Every Smoke and CO Detector
Most households check these once a year or less. June is as good a time as any, and it takes about five minutes to walk through your home and press the test button on each one. Replace batteries in any that are running low, and replace any detector that’s more than 10 years old. Carbon monoxide detectors should also be within 15 feet of every sleeping area.
8. Service Your Irrigation System
If you have a sprinkler or drip irrigation system, now is the time to check it before summer watering kicks into full gear. Walk each zone and look for heads that are misaligned, clogged, or broken. Make sure you’re not watering your driveway or the side of your house. A few minutes of adjustment now can cut hundreds of gallons of water waste over the summer, and keep your water bill from spiking unnecessarily.
The Common Thread
None of these tasks are complicated. Most take less than an hour. What they have in common is that ignoring them tends to be expensive. A dryer fire, a pest infestation, a failed AC unit in August, or a water heater that finally gives out all cost far more to fix than they would have to prevent.
If keeping track of when each of these is due sounds like one more thing to manage, that’s exactly what MyVitalHome is built for. Set up your home’s systems and appliances once, and it handles the scheduling and reminders from there — so you’re not trying to remember when you last flushed the water heater or replaced the smoke detector batteries.
Get started free at https://app.myvitalhome.com
Know your home’s vitals.
