A Colorado Season-by-Season Home Maintenance Routine

Coloradans learn to read the sky fast. They have to, since spring hail can turn into a deep-freeze in the same week. If you can stay a step ahead, small home fixes stay small. Pass on one and it becomes the kind of repair that wrecks a budget. Here’s a season-by-season routine, with suggestions on what you might be able to handle yourself and what belongs to a pro.

Spring

Spring is for undoing winter and bracing for storm season. On your own, clear the gutters, scan the roof from the ground for missing or curled shingles, and test the sump pump before the snowmelt arrives. A warm week can send a fast melt downhill and your downspouts dump it against the foundation. That’s how basements flood, so make sure the water runs well away from the house. Leave the roof walk, the chimney, and any electrical work to a pro, and have a licensed roofer check for the hail damage you’ll miss from the ground.

Summer

Summer is prime project season. Tackle the easy wins yourself. Re-caulk windows and doors, touch up exterior paint, service the irrigation, and swap the furnace and AC filters. Consider how hard the high-altitude sun is on south-facing paint and deck stain, and put those at the top of the list before the finish chalks and peels. Work outdoors in the morning, since the afternoon thunderstorms will chase you off a ladder by two. Hire out the central air tune-up and any tree work near power lines before the first heat wave books every technician in town.

Fall

Fall is time to seal up before the cold. Disconnect and drain garden hoses, insulate exposed pipes, reverse the ceiling fans, and test the smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors. For example, a furnace that quits in December is both an emergency and a premium-priced repair, so bring in a pro to service it and inspect the chimney before you light the first fire. While you’re at it, check the weatherstripping. The gap you ignore in October is the draft you pay for all winter.

Winter

Winter maintenance is mostly watchfulness. Keep an eye out for ice dams, let faucets drip during a hard freeze, and find your main water shutoff now, before a pipe ever bursts. Think of the attic like a cooler. Keep it cold and well-vented and most ice dams never form. Snow removal and de-icing you can handle. Call a pro the moment you spot a roof leak, smell gas, or find a frozen pipe you can’t safely reach.

How to Tell DIY From a Pro Job

When you’re unsure, one test can settle it. If the job involves gas, high voltage, a roof, or a permit, hire it out. If it involves a screwdriver, a caulk gun, or a filter, it’s yours. And when you’re still on the fence, a thirty-dollar consult with a licensed pro beats a three-thousand-dollar fix from a weekend project gone sideways.

A steady routine turns home maintenance from a string of emergencies into a short list of weekend tasks. For the bigger repairs that show up anyway, call (800) 444-4816 to speak with a Member Advocate at Credit Union of Colorado about a home savings or financing option that keeps a surprise from derailing the month.