After every winter, your home needs a full inspection and reset. This is the most important maintenance season — catch damage early, prep for peak project weather.
Winter fills gutters with debris, pine needles, shingle granules, and remnants of ice dams. A thorough spring cleaning before rainy season ensures every drop of water is directed away from your foundation.
Work from the far end toward the downspout. Use a plastic gutter scoop or a gloved hand to remove leaves, clumps, pine needles, and granules. The plastic scoop is gentle on gutter sections and fits the channel shape. Drop debris onto a tarp on the ground rather than down the downspout — wet leaves compact in the pipe and cause new clogs.
Use a garden hose at the far end and flush toward the downspout. Water should travel smoothly and drain completely at the downspout inlet. If water pools in a section, the gutter has a low spot or incorrect pitch — it should slope ¼" per 10 feet toward the downspout. Low spots can be fixed by slightly repositioning the spike or screw hangers.
Insert the hose directly into the downspout opening and run it at full pressure. If water backs up and overflows out the top, the downspout is clogged. Use a plumber's snake or a high-pressure nozzle to break up the blockage. Downspout extenders (5+ feet from the foundation) are critical — short or missing extensions lead to foundation water infiltration.
While you're up there, check every seam for separation or rust staining. Check hanger screws — over winter, ice weight pulls screws out of fascia. Press the gutter trough: it should feel solid. Check the fascia board behind the gutter for soft spots or rot (a sign the gutters have been overflowing). Seal any leaking seams with gutter sealant from inside the trough.
Test your entire cooling system in March or April when temperatures are mild. Discovering a problem then means a scheduled repair — discovering it in July means a 2-week wait in 95°F heat.
Start the season with a fresh filter — a MERV 8–11 rating balances filtration with good airflow. Locate the air handler (basement, attic, closet, or utility room). Note the filter size printed on the existing filter frame. A dirty startup filter restricts airflow and can cause the evaporator coil to freeze on the first hot day of the year.
Remove the winter cover if you installed one. Clear any mulch, leaves, sticks, or debris that blew in over winter. Cut any vegetation that grew to within 18" of the unit. Check that the condenser is sitting level on its pad — frost heave can shift the unit, causing oil pooling in the compressor. Level with shims if needed.
During cooling operation, the evaporator coil drips condensation into a drain pan and out through a PVC drain pipe. Find the drain line (usually exits through the side of the house or into a floor drain) and flush it with a cup of diluted bleach solution to prevent algae growth and summer drain clogs, which cause pan overflow and ceiling water damage.
Set the thermostat 5°F below room temperature and run cooling for 15–20 minutes. Check that: (1) the outdoor compressor kicks on, (2) supply vents are blowing cool air throughout the house, and (3) the air handler is not making grinding, screeching, or rattling sounds. If you have lower airflow in specific rooms, check those supply vents for blockage or closed dampers.
Winter is the harshest season for roofs — ice dams, snow weight, freeze-thaw cycles, and wind all cause damage. A thorough ground-level inspection in spring catches problems while repair costs are still minor.
Stand far enough back to see the full slope. Look for: missing or damaged shingles (they'll appear lighter in color, curled at edges, or show exposed black underlayment), rows of shingles that look buckled or wavy (a sign of underlayment issues), and any sections where granules have worn down to the fiberglass mat showing through.
Flashing failures are the #1 source of roof leaks. Look at every penetration through the roof: chimneys, pipe vents, skylights, and dormer walls. The metal flashing should be flat against the surface with no gaps, lifted edges, or rust staining. Look for dried-out caulk at flashing seams — if it's cracked and pulling away, it needs to be reapplied.
The ridge (peak of the roof) should be a straight line — any sagging is a structural concern requiring immediate professional attention. Roof valleys (where two roof planes meet and water runs down) are high-wear areas. Look for exposed nail heads, worn shingles, or gaps in the valley flashing. These are the spots most likely to leak first.
Go into your attic after a rain and look at the underside of the roof deck with a flashlight. Water stains, dark discoloration, or wet spots on the sheathing indicate active or past leaks. Note that the leak point is often not directly above where the stain appears — water travels along rafters before dripping down. Mark any stained areas to check from outside.
A slow zone-by-zone startup catches broken heads, clogged nozzles, and winter damage before they waste hundreds of gallons a week all season long.
Locate the irrigation supply line shutoff valve (usually in the basement near where the irrigation line branches off the main). Slowly open it a quarter turn at a time over 2 minutes until fully open. Check the backflow preventer if your system has one — it should have both test cocks cracked open (typically at 45°) when in service.
Manually activate each zone from the controller for 2–3 minutes and walk the entire zone while it runs. Look for: broken or tilted pop-up heads (they spray sideways instead of up), heads that won't retract after the zone shuts off (they'll get mowed over), clogged nozzles that spray in an uneven pattern, and any zone that won't activate at all (may have a solenoid or wiring problem).
Pop-up heads should be flush with the surrounding ground — raise any that have sunk by carefully excavating around the body and adjusting the riser height. Adjust the arc (rotation range) and radius of each head to avoid watering hardscaping, driveways, or fences. Most heads have an adjustment screw in the center nozzle to reduce the spray radius by up to 25%.
Program the controller for spring watering needs — typically shorter run times than summer (spring rains provide some moisture, summer heat evaporates it faster). For most zones: 10–15 minutes for rotors, 5–8 minutes for spray heads, twice per week in spring. Enable the rain sensor if your system has one — it prevents the system from running during and after rain events.