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Helpful Household Hints for Spring Cleaning

Helpful Household Hints From a Handyman in St. Louis

The great outdoors also needs a spring cleaning. You’ve cleared the dust covering the baseboards and bookshelves inside. But what about the mud, grime and mold that’s built up outside? Clean up your act by making your siding, garage and deck look like new.

1)    To wash and weed your patio in one blast, wait until the soil’s moist just after a rainstorm. A blast from the power washer will clean the surface and uproot weeds all at once. You’ll be all weeded out with no dirt under the fingernails in no time.
2)    A roller brush will remove most dust, dirt and lint from wire screening. No fuzzy logic here.
3)    For oil stains in your garage, lay several pages of newspaper on top of them. Saturate the paper with water and press flat against the floor. Read the comics while it dries.
4)    Rev up your car washing skills by using a kitchen string mop to wash the top, hood and trunk of your vehicle. Careful not to wax on, wax off. That comes next.
5)    Be careful while pressure washing windows. If the air’s a bit chilled, water more than 180 degrees can crack some types of glass. In any weather, a direct blast can shatter the glass. Think sprinkles, not monsoon.
6)    Don’t aim the power washer upwards when cleaning lap siding. It can drive water behind the siding and lead to divorce between siding and walls. It’s a real home-wrecker.
7)    And finally, remember to power wash off your deck. Wait for a dry day and start at the top and work your way down. Let it dry out a day or so before re-staining and sealing. Or to make your life easier, just call us for the work. We love working on decks. You might also need a few boards replaced. If you do, it is best to match cedar to cedar, or pressure treated to pressure treated lumber. This way you don’t look mismatched.