6 Summer DIY Jobs You Should Do Now

With summer in full swing, it’s the ideal time to make the most of the fine weather and tackle some jobs around the home, inside and out; I promise that you’ll be glad you did when autumn comes around!

While researching this post, I have been delving into the ManoMano website – have you seen it?  In case you didn’t know, ManoMano is a fantastic new home improvement and gardening website, stuffed full of the best brands and products, plus loads of project inspiration and expertise.  I love the fact that the website is run by a team of DIY enthusiasts who are keen to offer the best pricing possible and place high standards on the sellers who use their marketplace!

So let’s explore my top 6 home maintenance tasks for summer, shall we?

Exterior Paintwork

Dry, sunny spells are ideal for carrying out any exterior paint jobs, with less chance of rain ruining your handywork and the extra bonus point of a quicker dry time.  When painting masonry or metal work such as garden gates or railings, you’ll need a wire brush to remove flakes of old paint.  Also equip yourself with plenty of sanding blocks, a dust sheet, masking tape and a variety of brushes, rollers and trays – and of course the desired exterior paint or wood dye.

Give Your Patio or Deck some TLC

Another great summer home maintenance job is cleaning your paths and patio, or refinishing your garden deck.  Stone or concrete paths and patios will clean up well with a pressure washer and you can enhance the effectiveness by applying a patio or deck detergent to help restore the original appearance.  Your pressure washer can also blast weeds out from between cracks and joins, but be cautious with any block paving as the water may dislodge the sand between the bricks.  Once everywhere is dry, you might want to brush  some extra sand into the joints to top it up and consider using a block paving sealant for ongoing protection.

Why not also give your patio or deck furniture a thorough clean?  Plastic furniture can be scrubbed down and even spray painted if it has faded – you can give it a funky new look!  Wooden outdoor furniture and decking can be spruced up by sanding it lightly and giving a coat or two of a good quality wood preserver.

Cleaning gutters

Over the winter months, your gutters probably amassed a great deal of debris.  Once autumn comes along, further falling leaves can compound the problem, causing blockages and you may find your gutters overflowing with water.  Rather than wait until that happens, set up your ladders now and get to work on cleaning out the guttering.  You’ll need someone to hold the ladder, some heavy duty gloves, an old bucket to dump the leaves and waste into and a few clever gutter guards to stop the problem repeating itself.  These are well worth a look – they’re easy to install with no tools required – check out the options here.

Tiling & Decorating Projects

You might think it’s best to do any tiling and decorating over the winter months when you’re confined to the house more often.  But actually, now is the best time as you can fling open the windows and doors – adhesives and paint will dry quicker and the fresh air will disperse any strong odours.  The light is good too and the days longer, so you can get more done.  You’ll be able to see really well into every corner of the house and do your best ‘cutting in’!  ManoMano has a great range of decorating equipment (cutting in brushes included) to get your summer decorating off to a good start.

Cleaning Windows

If your exterior (and interior) glass is looking a bit dusty and neglected, why not grab a bucket of soapy water and a sponge and get that glass gleaming?  The sunshine streaming through windows and doors shows up all the dirty marks, so you’ll be able to see a massive difference!  Once the windows are sparkling, you’ll feel more inclined to get on with the rest of the cleaning jobs around the house.

To make the job easier, make sure you’re properly equipped with cloths, a bucket and a squeegee – plus I would recommend a window cleaning vac, which makes the task a lot easier.  I have one and use it on my shower screen, too, as it sucks up all the water droplets and keeps the glass streak free!

Trimming Hedges and Shrubs

Don’t let hedges and shrubs go out of control, as trimming them then becomes much harder.  Keep on top of this task by investing in some quality equipment that will save you having to book a gardener or a week off work!  Manual pruners, secateurs and electrical hedge cutters will make light work of the task – get yourself some heavy duty garden waste bags too and gardening gloves.  Safety glasses are also a must to avoid thorns and branches poking you in the eye – this is physical work, but also immensely satisfying and at the end of the day you can look at your handiwork and think, ‘I did that!’

So there you have it; some home maintenance ideas to be getting on with this season.  You might also spend a few hours sorting and tidying your shed or garage, while the weather is nice, so you can find and store things easily over the coming months.  It’s also a good idea to check your loft or attic space and any basements for insect infestations, leaky pipes, mouldy patches etc. now that you can remedy before the weather changes.

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© Copyright 2018 Antonia, All rights Reserved. Written For: Tidylife