5 Cheap Spring Home Improvement Projects
The coldest part of the year for San Antonio has passed and spring home improvement season is here. Many people all over the country will start getting ready for the warm months ahead. It’s always a good idea to have a plan in place so that you can knock out a large amount of work in a short amount of time.
In this week’s post I’m going to cover five different spring home improvement projects that are cheap to do and can help get your home ready for spring and summer time. All you’ll have to do is set a budget, put in the work and enjoy your home for months to come!
Spring Cleaning
Spring cleaning is probably the most popular tradition as far as spring home improvement projects go. Once a year people all over the country clean out all of the clutter and things they don’t need anymore. From attics to basements, the whole house is gone through.
Most trash services have a specific period of time that they offer extended services during this time of year. While this is convenient for a lot of homeowners in the city, what if trash pick-up isn’t a service that’s available to you?
I highly recommend picking up boxes from retail establishments. Places like Wal-Mart and Office Depot receive their products in all different sized boxes. If you catch them at the right time you can normally get boxes for free.
After you’ve decided what you are throwing away, start packing the items into boxes. Put anything that is in relatively good shape into boxes and label what they are and their condition. You can either drive these boxes to a donation center or have them picked up by a donation center and not have to pay for it.
The rest of the items that you consider trash can either be taken to a dump for a small fee, or you can see if a repurposing company has any need of them.
Lawn Work
Getting your lawn ready for the spring rains is another spring home improvement project that typically comes to mind when you think of the season. Depending on how often you enjoy tending your lawn, this could be something that you spend a lot or a little on.
Keeping in the spirit of the post, I want to show you how you can make this a cheap spring home improvement project. You can spruce up your lawn for under $15.
If you have flower beds already in place you can head over to your local Lowes or garden center and pick up a couple of packets of flower seeds for about $1 a piece. You’ll also need a bag of manure ($3) and a bottle of weed and feed ($10).
Use a shovel to turn up your flower beds and spread the manure throughout the beds. This will act as fertilizer for the seeds. Spread the seeds throughout the beds and in just a couple of weeks you’ll have a bed full of flowers.
If you have shears you can trim up any bushes in the yard as well as small tree branches that are low hanging. Trim them down pretty good. The spring rains will have your yard growing non-stop for months.
Use the weed and feed around the flower beds to keep weeds from getting in from outside. Use the rest sparingly throughout the entire yard to help the grass stay healthy and weed free. Again, when the rain comes your yard will grow in a hurry so use the weed and feed sparingly.
Pool Maintenance
For you home owners lucky enough to have a pool, it’s time to get it into shape! If you do your own pool maintenance there are some tips that you may not know that can save you a lot of money. Even if you have somebody do it for you, these spring home improvement tips could be what saves you money this spring.
If you have a removable filter in your pool pump you can get it deep cleaned for around a dollar. Turn off the pool pump and close the water valves leading to and from the pool pump. Remove the pump lid and pull the filter out. Let it dry in the sun for a little while and take it to the car wash. You can pressure wash all of the algae and chemicals out of it for mere quarters.
You can supplement your pool’s chlorine intake with baking powder. It’s no secret that pools constantly need chlorine, and chlorine is expensive. Baking powder has the same effect on your pool that chlorine does and can be used to help supplement your pool’s chlorine intake. This could save you tons of money if you buy baking soda in bulk.
Inspect Your Exterior
Winter was long and hard across the states. Chances are many properties suffered from wetter than normal conditions. That is why inspecting your exterior is one of the spring home improvement projects that you need to seriously consider doing.
Take a screwdriver and poke at all of the wood surfaces on the outside of the house. What you are looking for are soft spots and rot. If you find any, remove and replace them immediately.
Spring time here in the states means lots of rain and warm weather. The combination of the two is bad news for wood surfaces. It is very important that you make this one of the spring home improvement projects on your list now, because the wood needs to last the whole rest of the year.
Painting
Painting is a very important part of preserving your home. Winter months are always the hardest on a house. The conditions are almost always less than preferable which makes it hard to do any maintenance or improvements during the cold months.
Painting is a very important spring home improvement project. Whether it is the inside, the outside, or both, you need to seriously consider painting your house when spring rolls around. It won’t only preserve your house, but will make it look way more attractive than if no work were done at all.
Just painting the large exterior surface areas and leaving the trim for a later date is a great way to start your painting project and provide a great deal of coverage to the entire house.
Any of these five spring home improvement projects would be great ways to kick off the spring season. They are all cheap and only require a bit of time. Please feel free to implement one or more of these and leave pictures of your projects in the comment section below!
