Seasonal Checklists · 5 min read
The Spring Checklist: What Winter Did to Your House
Freeze-thaw is quiet violence. Every winter, water finds a crack, freezes, and pries it wider — in your driveway, your trim, your foundation, your roof. Spring is when you find the damage while it's still small.
The exterior walk-around
Pick a dry Saturday and circle the house slowly, twice — once looking up, once looking down:
- Roofline: missing or lifted shingles, sagging gutter runs, popped fasteners
- Siding and trim: peeling paint, gaps at joints, woodpecker or rot holes
- Foundation: new cracks or cracks that widened over winter
- Grading: soil that settled and now slopes toward the house
- Deck and porch: probe for soft wood at posts, stairs, and the house connection
- Windows: failed seals (fog between panes), cracked glazing, rotted sills
- Concrete and pavers: new heaving, cracking, or settled sections
Fix the water paths first
If the budget only covers a few items, prioritize anything that manages water: gutters, grading, flashing, caulk, and roof issues. Cosmetic damage waits politely; water damage compounds. A cracked driveway is annoying in five years — a bad downspout is a finished-basement claim in one.
Spring is also the right time to book summer projects. Deck builds, additions, and exterior paint get scheduled months out; calling in March gets you a June slot, calling in June often means fall.