Spring is here, and you know what that means—time to dust off the old maintenance checklist and give your home some TLC! In our latest chat, Eric G and John Dudley dive into the do's and don’ts of spring home maintenance, from clearing debris around your outdoor AC unit to checking on those sneaky window wells. We’ve been sharing this checklist for over 15 years, and let me tell you, it’s a life-saver! Whether you’re a seasoned DIY-er or just trying to avoid a costly disaster, we’ve got your back with tips that can save you a pretty penny and keep your house happy. So grab your notepad (or just head to our website for the download), and let’s get your home ready for the sunny days ahead! Springtime is here, and you know what that means—time to tackle that home maintenance checklist! Eric G and John Dudley dive into the nitty-gritty of getting our homes ready for the sunny days ahead. They’ve been doing this for ages, and they’re here to share their wisdom. From clearing debris around your outdoor AC unit (because we definitely don’t want to fry that expensive piece of equipment!) to inspecting window wells and gutters for any signs of wear and tear, they cover it all. Think of this checklist as your home’s spring cleaning ritual, but instead of dusting off knick-knacks, we’re getting our abodes ready to weather whatever crazy weather comes our way. Eric shares tales of unfortunate plants meeting their demise due to unexpected frosts, while John throws in some tech-savvy tips on maintaining those energy-efficient appliances. It’s a blend of practical advice, personal anecdotes, and a touch of humor that makes this episode a must-listen for any homeowner looking to keep their space in tip-top shape!

Takeaways:

• Spring is the perfect time to clean the outdoor AC unit and ensure nothing blocks airflow, preventing costly repairs later.
• Be sure to clear out gutters and downspouts to avoid water damage to your home, as even a little blockage can cause big problems.
• Regularly check and replace weatherstripping on doors and windows to keep the energy bills down and comfort up.
• Inspecting your foundation for cracks and checking if they’re stable can save you from a potential $77,000 repair down the road.
• Don't forget to clean those window screens and appliances—neglect can lead to bigger headaches and expenses later on.
• Make sure to schedule an inspection of your roof and gutters at least once a year to catch issues before they snowball.

Links referenced in this episode:

• aroundthehouseonline.com
• redwingshoes.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Red Wing

Thanks for listening to Around the house if you want to hear more please subscribe so you get notified of the latest episode as it posts at https://around-the-house-with-e.captivate.fm/listen

If you want to join the Around the House Insider for access to the back catalog, Exclusive Content and a direct email to Eric G and access to the show early https://around-the-house-with-e.captivate.fm/support

We love comments and we would love reviews on how this information has helped you on your house! Thanks for listening! For more information about the show head to https://aroundthehouseonline.com/

Information given on the Around the House Show should not be considered construction or design advice for your specific project, nor is it intended to replace consulting at your home or jobsite by a building professional. The views and opinions expressed by those interviewed on the podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Around the House Show.

Mentioned in this episode:

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to see every part of the project for Blacktail Ranch

Exciting collaboration alert! This playlist documents our joint project renovating Cam Anderson's new farm property on Blacktail Ranch—the home base for his adventures beyond the workshop. Cam (the woodworking wizard behind Blacktail Studio, with millions of fans loving his epoxy tables, live-edge builds, and creative furniture tutorials) is stepping into brand-new territory: his first-ever full home renovation and remodel. From the charming (but dated) farmhouse with its "lead paint chic" vibes to tackling structural updates, layout changes, and modern upgrades, we're transforming this 17-acre property into a functional, beautiful living space. I'm Eric G from Around the House, bringing my remodeling, construction, and design expertise to guide the process—planning layouts, solving real-world renovation challenges, handling the practical home improvement side, and making sure the build is smart, efficient, and homeowner-friendly. Expect step-by-step progress, honest discussions on budgets/timelines/hiccups, tool tips, design decisions, and the fun dynamic of blending Cam's woodworking flair with pro remodeling know-how. Whether you're a Blacktail Studio fan curious about Cam's new chapter, a DIYer tackling your own home reno, or just love watching big transformations, this series is for you! https://www.youtube.com/@aroundthehouseEricG/playlists

Blacktail Ranch

Subscribe to the podcast

Make sure and Subscribe on your favorite podcast player or the link below!

Podcast Subscribe 2026

Subscribe to the podcast

Make sure and Subscribe on your favorite podcast player or the link below!

Podcast Subscribe 2026

Check out our New YouTube channel @AroundtheHouse HQ

Make sure you subscribe and RING THE BELL for our brand new channel with 4k content! Click the link to take you there!

YouTube Around the House HQ

InstaBid: Stop losing jobs to slow estimates

Turn 3 hours of manual estimating into 5 minutes. Real material prices. Real labor rates. Professional PDF quotes delivered instantly. Try it free at instabid.pro. Use code ATH50 for 50% off your first month. That's instabid.pro — code ATH50

Instabid

InstaBid: Stop losing jobs to slow estimates

Turn 3 hours of manual estimating into 5 minutes. Real material prices. Real labor rates. Professional PDF quotes delivered instantly. Try it free at instabid.pro. Use code ATH50 for 50% off your first month. That's instabid.pro — code ATH50

Instabid

Take a second and leave us a review on your favorite podcast player!

Quick favor—if you're enjoying the show, the absolute best way you can support us is by leaving a quick review on your favorite podcast player.

Foreign.

Coast to coast, it's the nation's number one home improvement radio show and podcast with certified kitchen designer Eric G. And co host John Dudley, a former contractor and online technology expert.

Delivering real fixes, smart tech and trusted advice.

Remodels, repairs, energy savings, smart homes, diy.

We've got your answers.

It's around the House.

Dive in and get inspired.

Welcome to the around the House show, your trusted source for everything about your home.

Thanks for joining us today.

I'm Eric G. John Dudley.

Good to see you, my friend.

What's happening, brother?

Man, this is that time of year.

I can't believe we are already in springtime and years.

We've been doing this spring home maintenance checklist for probably 15 to 20 years on the show.

But I kind of wanted to wait a little longer because there were so many people out there across the country that still had snow on the ground.

And I'm like, kind of hard to say, let's talk about this when everybody snowed in or, or just getting beat with weather out there.

I actually have to chuckle a little bit because in Medellin they say it's the city of the eternal Spring.

Yes.

I'm not sure if that means there's water coming out of the ground everywhere or it's like freaking spring every day, but it's like kind of like spring every day.

Nice.

That is awesome.

That is awesome.

And yes, it's funny because when I was down in Florida, it was a great example and I was down there in mid February, I felt so bad for those guys because half of the plants down there that were probably tropical that they had painted put in their planted to make look good when they had that 20s and 30s weather that was below freezing, they got crushed and they're all dead.

So it felt like I was in like eastern Washington or eastern Oregon in the desert because I'm like, I came here for green and there's a lot of brown dead.

Yeah.

That's brutal.

When you're walking around Disney going, there's got to be half a billion dollars in dead plants here, cuz they're just.

Everywhere and well, yeah, not counting the orange trees, right?

Yeah.

And everything else.

So it's just like, oh, I felt bad for him because it was just, it just looked like everything had been abandoned for a while and nothing had been watered, but you could tell it was just all freeze damage, man brew.

So it's been a hard one.

So that tells me that this is going to be a good one because that means a lot of People got creamed, beat up, trashed this year, and it's time to go out and start to put it back together a little bit.

Yeah, weather's just been wacky everywhere the last few years.

Like, it just keeps getting a little wackier and a little wackier.

Oh, yeah, it's wild, and it makes it entertaining if you're a weather nerd like I am.

But also seeing people in Hawaii getting their houses ruined and falling off into rivers and stuff.

So they've been getting crushed as well.

So is it like four years ago or something when half of Texas froze?

Like, Texas doesn't do, and I love our friends in Texas, but some of those plumbers down there just ran those CPVC plastic yellow pipes through the ceiling, and they're sitting up there on top of the insulation because that's never gonna freeze.

Hold my beer, Mother Nature.

So, yeah, so that kept the plumbers going for a little bit.

But, well, today I like to start outside on this because it's just kind of a fun one.

It's a good time to get outside in the spring.

So if the weather's good, this is a good one here.

But we'll just blast through the list.

And, guys, if you want to copy this, make sure you head over to the website around the house online and you can sign up and download it right over there.

Just get your information so you can grab it.

It'll be super easy.

We'll have some fun with that.

And that way you can go around and do this to your house.

You don't have to worry about taking notes if you just head over to the website.

But the first one here, Johnny, is clear leaves and other debris around the outdoor air conditioning unit.

If you've got that H vac system out there, and if you've got our winter cover, get that thing away because the last thing you want to do is burn that expensive machine up.

Yeah, one of the other issues I'm seeing, too, and I just saw a buddy do this this last week, and I'm like, man, you're going to void the warranty.

And that's the last thing you want to do with a $20,000 piece of equipment.

Used to sit there and do that.

But be careful of putting all those little screens and covers and things around them.

People build up a little wall on the sides because they don't want to see it.

And I'm like, I get that, but there's no airflow.

Yeah, so you see, when I lived in Arizona, you'd see that a Bunch of people just block them all.

I'm like, you can't do.

What are you doing?

Yeah.

And it's, and it's.

You got to think about that is an air moving machine.

So the more you can do to keep that thing clear, the plants, you want to keep everything a couple feet away and then keep open airflow between 6 and 8ft above it so you get as much air movement in there.

Because the more you encase that in, the more you've got fences next to it and shrubs, the more it's trapping heat in there, which means you got a big problem and it's not going to work as efficient versus being more efficient.

And the last thing you want them to do is a service guy to come out or girl to come out and go.

Yeah, you burn the thing up and that's on you.

It's not covered by warranty.

Yeah.

And that's brutal.

Yeah.

Speaking of that.

It is Johnny for our.

We don't avoid any warranties, but it's safety time.

Let's run out to Red Wing real quick with our weekly safety tip.

Hey, guys, Eric G. From around the house.

Before you grab that hammer for your next DIY project, let's talk about assessing risks.

It's the foundation of staying safe.

Start by spotting potential dangers.

Think electrical hazards and old wiring, chemical fumes from paints or wobbly structures like that sagging deck.

Jot down a step by step plan.

List your tools, materials, and make sure you have help.

So enlist a few of your friends as it's needed.

For instance, if you're woodworking with power tools, note where your fire extinguisher is.

Sparks can turn fun into frenzy fast.

This isn't just busy work.

It prevents rushed mistakes that can lead to trips to the E.R.

Remember, a quick risk check can save you time, money and pain.

Plane smart.

Work safe, and stay tuned for more tips.

This project safety segment is proudly brought to you by Red Wing.

This month, Red Wing is launching their brand new clothing line built for the way you actually work.

Same legendary durability.

You trust in their boots now, in shirts and hoodies that move with you.

Breathe when you sweat and stand up to the real jobs around the house or on the site.

Comfortable enough for all day wear, tough enough to keep you protected.

Check out the new collection @redwing shoes.com or your local Red Wing store today.

Red Wing gear that works as hard as you do.

All right, we're back.

Thanks, guys.

I love those Red Wing shoes and their new clothes out there.

Those guys have got it dialed in, which makes it nice and comfortable for everybody.

Johnny, the next one here on this was making sure that you get the window wells cleaned up, storm drains, gutters, downspouts.

I'm walking out the mirror of the house here that I'm at with Elisa and the neighbor's side gutter is just totally just packed full of leaves.

So every time I'm walking up the stairs, I can look out and I'm at the right angle to see just the water running over the top and down the side.

And he's already got maintenance issues.

He's the same one that this last week that was replacing the window that I was kind of golf clapping to them for actually doing it right, which is kind of nice.

But just those maintenance things.

When it's pouring rain, go walk outside, put a rain jacket on, go out and take a look around and see where the problems are.

Like, where's the water going?

Because you're never going to be out there.

Nobody likes to stand out there and do it, but at least you'll know what's working and what's not.

Yeah, yeah.

It gets pretty obvious pretty quick, especially in the northwest when you get downpour.

And that water is sitting out there.

It's destroying your landscaping.

It's ruining the windows, the siding, everything else.

Just keep it dialed in, you know?

Well, you're lucky if it's going out.

Right.

You're lucky it's going out and just destroying dirt versus, you know, a lot of times it'll start coming back in and just rot stoplets out or make its way into the wall itself, into the drywall.

You don't notice for a couple years until you have a tree of mold inside there.

Oh, yeah.

And that's when the foundation company comes out and tells you it's going to be $77,000 to fix it.

Yeah.

Even though it might not be.

That's a whole other discussion.

Speaking of that, just make sure that if they're sagging, just get them cleaned up, that you can get some brackets and stuff and get them there in the.

One of the biggest problems, especially with basements, crawl spaces, that kind of stuff.

If that gutter is going down to the ground with that downspout, make sure that's going out 8, 10, 12ft in the yard.

I say 10ft on average.

Get it out away from the house.

Because so many times that's just damaging the.

The old concrete you have.

Or it's sitting there just raising that water table up.

Because if you've got like an inch of rain.

That could be 50 to 100 gallons of water coming out of that downspout right there.

So that's two big 50 gallon drums of water right next to it.

Come on.

You're asking for a leak in a.

Concentrated spot like that.

Yeah, it's nothing but trouble.

It's just gonna be a hot mess.

And the next one here before we go out to break is just making sure that all those tree limbs and shrubs are way away from the house, so you don't want them touching because that's a super highway for the bugs and stuff to get in there and then make sure that they're not rubbing up against stuff.

That's how you get siding damage, gutter roof damage.

Just keep them well away.

And in fire zones, which is just about anywhere now in the US make sure that they're three or four feet away, so you don't have to worry about it.

So you've got a little bit of a defensible space right there.

All right, when around the house comes back, we got more of your home maintenance checklist just as soon as we return.

Welcome back to the around the house show, your trusted source for everything about your home.

Thanks for joining us today.

If you want more information, like this home maintenance checklist we're talking about today, just head over to aroundthehouse online.com and you can download it over there.

John Dudley and I have been talking about those maintenance tips.

And I tell you what, some of these can save you so much money if you can get on it and get it taken care of.

And I like preventative maintenance.

One of the things on this list, John, which is really big, it's inspecting the weather stripping on the windows and doors and making sure they're all dialed in and fixed as you need.

Sometimes you'll go out there and if you've got a light, like, I'll take the front door, I'll put a shop light out there out in front of the door, go look around it and see what the light is.

Sometimes that could be as bad as just having an open window in the house.

And we've both had houses that have had the rats crawl underneath there.

I'm usually the guy that waits until there's a puddle in the entryway.

And I'm like, I really gotta buy a door suite for that.

You know, you want to keep those rodents down and making sure.

And that's one of the things too, is just keeping that stuff cleared out.

But speaking of rodents, you wouldn't believe what a animal rights group is trying to pass in Oregon right now.

They're trying to get the signatures for voting on.

Listen to this one.

This is the Peace act, as they're calling it, issued a petition 28.

They're going to legal.

They're going to make it so you can't hunt, fish, or raise animals for food.

And they're going to classify common agricultural practices as animal abuse.

And anytime you go out to kill mice, rodents, that would be considered animal abuse.

I was speechless.

My mom sent me a news clip and an article about that and I hit you up immediately.

I'm like, what?

Okay, enough already.

What is going on up there?

Because this is outrageous.

This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen.

Yeah, just put a vacancy sign for.

The rest dumb things.

Yeah.

Okay, so you can't hunt.

You can't fish in one of the best hunting and fishing places in the U.S. yes.

You're in the Northwest.

I sure can't sit there and go after the mice, moles, gophers.

Yeah, no.

Insane saying.

I could.

I. Yeah, they were.

Here's the unfortunate part, you know, a hundred thousand plus signatures, I think is what it took.

120,000 Or something like that.

That's really not a lot.

And especially if you're in Portland.

There's enough radicals up there.

And I say radicals politely.

Yeah, right.

Yeah, but so.

And, but my point being is that was a couple of weeks ago, I think when my mom told me about that and.

And they were close on signatures.

I was like, oh, man.

Yeah, they gotta have like117,000 valid signatures.

And they're already over a hundred.

I mean.

Yeah.

Yep.

It's so stupid.

So stupid.

It's incredible.

I mean, people live, right?

Yeah.

It's a whole diatribe.

We could go on.

That's a whole other episode and a.

Whole other show, but just insanity.

It's insane.

So the next one on here is just making sure that you're, you know, you're making sure the roof vents are clean and the louvers, any of that other stuff you got around there.

Inspect the eaves, ledges, other key spots like that.

Make sure you just got nothing falling apart.

You know, so many times the.

If you've got shutters out there, you've got window trim.

The rain's been bouncing off it or the ice.

Just go around and check for any of that weather damage.

You know, sometimes that wood's gotten wet too many times and it's splitting crack and checking.

Just get all that stuff dialed in.

And if you were Heating your house here with your fireplace or wood stove, just get that chimney, call the chimney sweep out, get it cleaned, get it checked, get inspected, you know, especially the older houses because those things can fall apart after a while and just a quick inspection will save you a lot of headaches or a fire, which is even worse.

So I like to do that in the springtime.

So that way when, when fall comes around and you're heating your house with it, you're good to go.

You're going, I don't have to deal with that down here.

It's.

No.

I was trying to think of something witty to say because I, I remember trying to use those, you know, you could buy the little fiberglass pole ones that you screw together.

16 Extension pieces with the wire, not wire brush, but like really hard plastic.

Yeah, a little brush, kind of like a nylon brush or whatever.

And I give it, you know, three or four and I'm like, ah, that's good.

Yep.

Well, that's me cleaning the dryer.

Man, I couldn't believe it.

I.

We've got whoever built this house that Elisa got.

I'm not going to go after the main national builder.

But of course the dryer duct runs up and goes up into.

It's in the second floor.

So it goes up through the roof.

Yeah, which is awesome.

But it loves to catch every little bit of lint.

And I went through there.

I filled up the shop vac with lint because I had it sucking it back in there because I didn't want to have to go up on the two story roof if I had to.

So I was doing it from inside and oh man, I tell you what, I was sucking that through there and it was crazy how much stuff I got blown out of that.

But it's a long way to get lint to travel and it's sticky lint.

Yeah, yeah.

The more softeners and everything else you use, the worse it gets, that's for sure.

The next one here I'm talking about is making sure that you just check all those window screens, get them cleaned up.

You know, those things take a beating, those window screens.

If you open your windows or louder like a filter so they get dirty.

Nasty.

You'll be shocked when you pull those things down and get out there with your hose and some suds.

How dirty those things really are because they just, they're just like an air filter.

It gets pretty brutal.

So good time to do it.

If you've got the little, the plastic covers over the top of your stuff.

If you, if it's freezing.

If you're still in freezing weather, don't go uninsulating things if it's still going to get below freezing.

But for most people, you're good.

The other thing is just check all your paint finishes, you know, look around.

Okay.

You know, how are things looking?

Are you need of touch up?

You need a whole new paint job.

You know, there's a lot of that.

Even more importantly, the caulking.

Right.

Look at your joints, look at your caulking.

Especially with all the freezing, the expansion, contraction a lot of times starts heating up and yeah, goes from being brittle to being not so supple anymore.

There's some really good new caulking and stuff out there.

Sashco makes one that's really flexible, so it'll go like three or four times as far as the stretch on it.

So you could put that in there and it's not going to get as you know, it's got a lot more flexibility too, which is cool.

Another thing on here, man, that's so important too, is really checking your foundation to make sure you don't have any cracks in it.

So I like to walk around, look around at the foundation and all it takes.

If you are worried about a crack and it's moving, just get a straight edge, put a little line across it.

You know, grab a carpenter's pencil and put a line across it and take a look and see how it's looking.

Because you can go across there, do that and then come back and check it and you'll see if it's moving or not.

And many times that ground movement, all that is.

And it's kind of crazy.

Your ground is like a sponge.

It doesn't go down.

Your ground typically is not sitting on that house, is not sitting on bedrock.

So it's sitting on soil.

If it's clay soil in the summertime or in the wintertime when it's dry, depending on what climate you're in, that will shrink up like an old sponge.

When it gets wet, the whole thing lifts again.

And anywhere you've got a weak point of the foundation, maybe it's a vent, maybe it's an opening or it's just a corner that's not well supported.

It'll crack.

And easy fixes, we'll talk about that later in the show.

But those are all easy fixes for you to take care of and they end up working out really well.

Now, the next one here is super important.

If you've got a deck, do a full deck inspection every year.

Jump online Grab a.

Grab one of the deck inspection checklists.

There's a ton of them out there.

Go through and take a look at it.

Because there's so many deck failures a year, it's absolutely incredible.

You know, you and I were talking about the one where the guy was falling, you know, the roofing one a couple weeks ago.

That's why I'm chuckling.

Yeah.

Can't sit there and do that and just make sure the railings, you know, last thing you want is your.

Or maybe you do want your mother in law.

Yep.

She's leading on that.

The deck railing on Easter Sunday.

And all of a sudden she's head.

Head over heels heading into the garden.

You're gonna plan.

Who planned that family photo?

Here, you lean against the railing here.

Well, you know the difference between mother in laws?

Actually, no, we'll keep that for another one.

I'll dial that back.

What's the difference between outlaws and in laws?

Forget you've told me this one, but.

Yeah, outlaws are wanted.

Ah, that's it.

I've got one for every occasion out there.

All right, when around the House comes back, we've got more.

We're gonna dive inside on the home maintenance checklist.

We'll be right back.

Welcome back to the around the House show, your trusted source for everything about your home.

Thanks for joining us today.

If you want a copy of this home maintenance checklist we've been talking about, just head over to the website aroundthehouseonline.com and we'll get you a copy so you can use it yourself.

And Johnny, you don't see the video right now, but he's got the bunny out.

I guess it's Easter time too.

So it's the heckle bunny.

Well, it's City of the Eternal Spring, Eric.

And Easter happens to be in spring, so I like.

There we go.

I like it.

That is awesome.

All right, here's the first one on the list.

Inside, we've been talking about outside in the last first few segments there.

But inside, make sure you check those smoke alarms, fire alarms, carbon monoxide detector, you know, check those out, make sure that they've got new batteries.

And here's the big thing, make sure they're not expired.

Those things have a lifespan of about a decade and they're kind of like milk.

Once they're done, you just want to get something else in there, you know, it's dangerous enough out there.

You want to have these things working.

And one little note on the carbon monoxide detectors.

Many times you can get sick off of 4, 5, 6, 7 parts per million.

Many of those out there, brother, start working at 60.

Yep.

I was just gonna say they don't hit till about 50.

Yeah, 60, whatever.

Yeah.

And so you're like nearly dead by the time those things go off.

I tell you what, man, the fire alarms, you know, and we've talked about the products that recognize even a spark in your garage now.

Yeah, like I would have nothing short of that at this point.

Not that $9, you know.

Yeah, that's flame magic from Home Depot or whatever.

But the carbon monoxide thing, my gal just brought that up the other day.

She's.

You know how many people have died in Colombia this year from.

Because everything down here is gas.

All the ranges are gas.

And no, it's real.

And that, like, we legitimately shut our gas off every night when we're not using.

Hey, I don't want to have something burning.

And.

Yeah, all it takes is, you know, one bump when she's cleaning the stove or something.

And, oh, I didn't realize it was leaking.

And.

Yeah, it's just good.

I mean, I worry about my dogs more than me, honestly.

And here's the thing, too, you know, you think about that, you know, with the combustion gases like that, you know, so many people here in the US Will have power outages here, even in Portland.

And all of a sudden, somebody puts their barbecue inside the house, it lights it on fire with the propane tank, and I'm like, can't do that, guys.

That's how you go for one last big, long nap.

It's not a good way to go.

Not a good way to go.

I got a couple stories in there, but yeah, just trying to stress how important that is, man.

And it's, you know, it's so easily not considered or not thought about or how many.

Back to the smoke detector thing.

How many smoke detectors have you just ripped the battery out?

Because it beeps every time you cook or it beeps because the battery is going dead and you're like, oh, man, I never did get a battery for that.

Yep.

I tell you what, to me, the question I always have, and I know why it happens, but why do they always have to go beep at 115 to 315 in the morning?

It's going to say something.

Smart alecki.

But yeah, I don't know.

That's all right.

It really.

Yeah, it is.

Yep.

Because they can.

Quiet, but still.

It's like, why does it always happen then?

Yeah, you don't really hear it when the Game's on, do you.

No, no, not at all.

Speaking of that, I think I have one in the house here in one of the spare bedrooms that's not being used that I took down a couple nights ago.

I better go get a battery for that.

I'll send you a copy of the checklist, brother.

There we go.

Thanks.

I should go through that next one.

Here is probably one of the most unfun things to do in your house, but it's important.

Remove all the hair and debris from those drains in the traps in your sinks, tubs, showers.

Call it pro.

There you go.

Problem is, you call pro, and you got 800 bills sitting there, and they spent an hour and a half walking around the corner.

And I'm not ripping on them for that, but if you want to make it a DIY project and not make it expensive, buy a respirator.

Oh, yeah, dude, that is, you know, rubber gloves.

Nothing that helps.

Dude, that stench is horrible.

The thing is.

And I mean, it does work.

Get in there.

I like to get a little plastic tub.

Right.

Throw it underneath the sink.

Yeah.

That way you have a lot less cleanup to do.

You're still gonna get splashed.

Yeah, no, it's.

You're still getting some sewer water splashed on you, whether you like it or not.

It's not sexy, but at the same point, it saves a lot of headaches later when you're like, oh, my gosh, this is full.

And then you know what happens?

Somebody goes and gets the drain cleaner.

They pour it down there, and it doesn't work.

Or they've got the chrome traps where it's eating them up, and then it'll be dripping later when it eats a hole in it.

But then they call the poor plumber out that now has to cover his tools or her tools with all the drain cleaner, and they're going to charge you way more for it because they got to go through and get the drain cleaner off of everything.

Go through a decon unit.

No, it's.

Then that stuff's so dangerous, man.

And.

Yeah.

I mean, can't say I haven't done it myself, but.

Yeah, that's the.

Definitely.

The go to mo is dump a bunch of horrific chemicals down there and hope it works.

Pray, because you don't want to get under the sink and pull that trap.

And.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It just makes it worse.

It just makes it worse.

I removed all the drain cleaner from my house years ago.

Just went, can't do it.

Yeah.

Because I haven't used it since.

Yeah.

In decades, honestly.

But yeah, it just happens all the time.

When I was helping Elisa, she's, oh, yeah, I've got no stinking.

I'm like, oh, man, I'm gonna get covered in this.

I thought I was gonna have to do this.

Then I explained it to her.

She got it.

No, it's just what people do.

Next one here is really important, and it's one of those things that I say, just go around and do it.

Take a look and pull your drapes back in your house.

Look for mold.

Yeah.

So many times they'll have a window leaking outside, and all of a sudden you're like, where's this mold at?

That's in the.

Maybe it's in the back corner of the dining room behind a plant, or it's behind the drapes.

And you're like, I got a problem.

Take a look around and see.

Do a mold inspection.

Do a damage inspection in those hiding spaces, buying the curtains around.

Look around, see if there's water coming out into the dishwasher.

You know, all those things.

Just do a good walk around and take a look and see what you've got.

So many times you can find a problem before it gets to be an expensive insurance claim or just a big remodel.

Yeah.

Or, you know, everybody in the house is sick as a dog.

Right, Right again.

One of those things is so easy to look past, but it's got severe consequences if you don't pay attention, you know, And.

And it's that weird spot in the corner on the ceiling.

Why is it only getting only.

Well, there's a reason.

It's not magic.

There is a reason, and you better figure it out, because.

Yep, it's coming to get nothing to mess around with.

Then you see that where the.

Somebody's ceiling fell in.

In the bedroom or something as well.

The drywall got wet, and all of a sudden it's heavy and it comes falling down.

So, yeah, so the next one here is an important one, and it's one of those ones that people forget about.

You know, we always think, okay, we can change our air filters if we think about it.

But if you've got an energy.

Energy recovery ventilator, a dehumidifier, heat pump, water heater, any of those things.

There are so many more filters in your home, including your refrigerator and everywhere else for air filters and things.

Make a list, go around, have an extra one around the house.

And yeah, some of those can get spendy.

Some of those nicer, higher performance air filters can be 150 bucks.

Now for those Things and they'll land, they'll work for four to six months sometimes, maximum.

But man, make sure you got the extra one there so you can do it.

You know, you need to be doing that.

It's a great time of year to do it because we've got all those allergens out there.

And if you're getting AC from it when the summer heat hits, it'll be nice to have that thing flowing as best as it can so you've got it.

The other one too that people forget.

Johnny.

Nobody cleans their exhaust fans.

The bathroom fan, the one in the laundry room that gets all the lint in it, those are the forgotten ones.

That second that's right up there with P traps for me.

Oh, you're going to wear it.

It's getting in your hair.

You know, put some sunglasses on or some eye protection.

But I tell you what, I.

A three year old bath fent is going to be nasty.

Yeah.

And it, you know, you're absolutely spot on.

It's one of those things nobody checks until.

Oh, it's broken.

Well, broken can be sitting there humming and burning, you know.

Right.

You know, doing that thing.

And it's.

Now you've got a potential fire and what do you do?

You have a ton of lint, dirt and grime that is just right there to help any spark go.

So again, it's like a dryer, dryer vent.

You know, just make sure you keep it clean, keep it maintained.

Probably going to be your company that sent your friends that come over and your fan's not working but they let it run or it comes on automatically with the light so you can't really stop it.

Yeah, yep.

Or the ones that are humidity controlled so that, you know, you open up the windows and it's 60% humidity outside and it's a nice spring day and now they turn on for days on end because you don't have any humidity control.

Same kind of thing.

Same kind of thing.

All right, let's go out to break.

Johnny.

We're running out of time here on this one.

We'll come back and we'll finish up our home maintenance checklist.

If you want a copy of this, head over to our website aroundthehouse online.com and you can download it from right there.

We'll be right back after these important messages.

Don't change that dialogue.

If you would like a copy of the spring home maintenance checklist, head over to aroundthe house online.com and you can grab a copy right there.

Don't change that Dial around the House is just getting started.

We will be right back.

Welcome back to the around the House show, your trusted source for everything about your home.

Johnny and I are sitting here wrapping up this segment here, our home maintenance checklist.

And this is that list you should be doing each spring to make sure your house is dialed in.

Doesn't matter if you're in a townhouse, condo or if you're sitting there in your first home or your forever home.

This is that stuff that probably can save you some money and maybe make things last a little bit longer so you don't have to go out and replace it.

And we've been working through kind of the inside stuff, and I wanted to hit on a couple things here.

Taking care of those major appliances in your home.

Nobody likes cleaning out the oven.

Can even see through the glass window.

Probably not.

Can't you just blame that on, like, added flavor or something?

You could think, trust me, if you put that oven, electric oven on, self cleaning and then go try to cook the turkey afterwards, and you did get every little piece of thing out of it, it's probably going to taste a little chemically burnt.

Yeah, you kind of get a little bit of tang to it from that.

It's not awesome.

We put that warning out there before.

Yeah.

But when it comes to cleaning the oven, I just use the barbecue excuse.

Right.

Like, never clean the barbecue.

That's good for the flavor.

Dude, have you seen those barbecue that.

I just transfer that right to the oven.

I'm like, no, it's fine.

Yep.

Oh, man.

Sometimes those things get so greasy.

Barbecue is another one you should be doing out there, too.

Because I tell you what, if you haven't cleaned that thing out many times, if you're a low and slow cooker and you're doing it, you've got all that just kind of grease built up and you've never really gotten it hot.

All of a sudden you walk out back and you've got, you know, fire, big inferno going.

I've done it.

I've made that mistake before.

I'm just gonna heat it up here the next couple times.

And all of a sudden you go,.

Oh, yeah, grease pans on fire.

We got trouble.

We got trouble.

Yeah.

Get the shovel and throw dirt.

Absolutely, absolutely.

You know, I actually got one of those for those kind of fires like that.

I actually got one of those fire blankets that you could throw at.

Those fiberglass fire blankets you can throw on.

Yeah, nice.

You know, might not work as well in the barbecue, but for that kitchen fire or Something where you got the stove and you don't want to get in there.

And it's way easier than cleaning up the fire extinguisher mess.

Yeah, no, but you remember when I.

Was playing in Dudley and I had that the girl I was dating, her dad lit the kitchen on fire and I didn't realize it.

That was probably the biggest mess I had ever cleaned up.

I mean, he had Alzheimer's, so not his fault.

Right.

He turned on the electric cooktop and stuck it right on there with that plastic mug.

And so I'm visiting my girl I was dating at the time.

This was what, 15 years ago, sitting there, maybe longer, sitting there and I hear one smoke alarm go off.

I'm like, there's two adults upstairs.

Maybe they got this.

When I heard the second one go off, I went, we have a problem.

Yeah, sure enough.

And then of course he wasn't smart enough or wasn't cognitive enough.

I don't want to say he was dumb, it wasn't his fault.

But he didn't ever turn the fire off.

So he didn't turn the heat off, but he had a kitchen towel and he was trying to snap out the flame, but then all which then in.

Turn catches on fire.

Oh yeah.

He had a flaming plastic field that was throwing spot fires around there.

So I emptied all three 5 pound fire extinguishers in that place and it was a multi day cleanup to get that done.

Yeah, that stuff's awful.

So yeah, anytime you get that stuff dialed in, but I always say clean out the dishwasher, make sure that's looking good.

You know, put some disposal, cleaner through the garbage disposal if you have one.

Pull the clean out real off the front of the fridge if you have one.

Oh my gosh.

Get out the 32 Mexican blankets that are woven around that thing down there from all your cats, pets, garbage.

Get that vacuumed out, get that cleaned out and do those maintenance things because appliances aren't cheap.

And if you have to go out and spend another three grand on a fridge because you didn't do it, man, spend the 15 minutes with the shop vac or your vacuum, get underneath there and get that cleaned out.

It's a big one.

Now here's the other one that I think is probably second or third on my list of not fun places to go.

If you have a crawl space, go down there, inspect it or what I would like to do, say to do, call up your local foundation contractor and have them come out there and give you a once over to make sure you're looking at it a couple years, every couple years.

Have them take a peek at it.

But keep in mind you're opening the door to getting that $77,000 quote or anything else for.

You can literally go in there and have somebody go in and replace the plastic and stuff and get it cleaned up looking good for a few grand.

But I just want to put a caveat on that one, especially due to my mom's recent experience.

Right.

I mean, I always knew there was a little piracy going on in that particular trade, I guess.

Right.

But it's one of the most worrisome things for homeowners to tell them, hey, your house might fall down.

So it's the first line.

Right.

So plan on that fear.

There's a lot of cats out there that want to take advantage of that.

And you're not going to see anything under.

I don't even know the prices now, but like you mentioned, man, my mom just got a $74,000 bid.

Yeah.

To fix her foundation because her floor is a little wonky.

The guy immediately knocked it down from 74 and said, how about 20?

Yeah, how about I knock $50,000 off the $74,000 price tag?

So that's what I'm talking about.

If you are going to get somebody out there to inspect it, either get somebody you know or get somebody that's in the trades that has somebody they trust.

Right.

And then that 74 that went down to 20 went down to 6 when we got one of our guys out there.

So make sure you know who you're calling or you're gonna get the heck scared out of you and you're gonna get some ridiculous.

Want to take advantage of your price.

So please, yeah, find somebody reputable.

At the very least, look on Google.

Make sure they got a hundred plus reviews or something.

Absolutely, absolutely.

And there are companies out there that use fear to sell.

So just be careful of that.

Be careful of that.

The other thing I want you to do is stick your head up in that attic space up there.

Take a look, make sure that none of those vents are blocked.

Make sure that you don't have mold growing up there.

And when in doubt, have an insulation contractor go up there and take a look around if you're not comfortable getting up there.

Or a home inspector to go up there and look around because you want that to breathe.

Well, you want to not get, you know, you Want all those vent fans in your house to be venting all the way up through the ceiling, not into the attic space up there.

So just make sure that is 100% dialed in up there.

And many times, you know, you'll see vents closed because maybe somebody got a little crazy with the insulation out there when they're blowing in that extra insulation in.

And now all of a sudden, all the intake soffit vents are plugged up, and then you have no air coming in.

That will help you on your energy bill.

It will also help you on your roof life as well, to make sure that's keeping cool from underneath.

Yeah.

I got two quick things.

One, if you have a teenager around the house, send them in the crawl space and them in the attic so they learn a little bit about life instead of sitting on the couch playing video games.

That's just me being an old grouchy guy.

They can take pictures and send them to you.

Yeah, and I forgot the second thing because I'm thinking about the teenagers.

Yeah, Yeah.

I don't remember.

I wouldn't set them up in the attic because you don't want them to miss that stud and then come through the drywall and end up in the bathroom.

Or do you?

If they're 14.

No, if they're 16, they'll be okay.

Yeah, we've all done it once.

Lesson learned.

Yeah, absolutely.

You know, that's one of those things.

But really?

Yeah, dude, you're not wrong.

Just making sure that, you know, get the kid out to help a little bit.

But and here's the thing, too, guys, if you're calling a roof company to get up on there to make sure, or you're kind of having one of those soft scrub people come out there, the.

The scrubbing companies that'll come out and wash your roof and siding down.

I love that stuff.

Just make sure they're licensed, bond, and insured.

Because if you're hiring them and you paid them 500 bucks cash to come do it, and they fall off the roof and they get hurt.

If they're not licensed bond insured, they are your personal employee, which means you're the employer, which means that's your medical bill to be in charge of.

And your homeowner's insurance does not cover that.

Yeah, don't get me started on that one.

Actually, the other thing I was going to bring up is my.

I always reference my mom because she's always working on the house, but she said the other day that they're not allowing blowing insulation anymore.

Depending on the situation.

They're still letting it do it, but it's just.

They don't want that to settle.

So a lot of that insulation they've been really thinking in.

And.

And of course, you've got spray foam.

People out there saying, oh, we never can do blowing insulation anymore.

I want to do spray foam.

And I'm not a fan of spray foam in many situations.

Yeah.

A whole nother conversation.

But I wanted to throw it in there just kind of for both of us to remember.

I was a little puzzled by that because she was getting ready to six months ago.

She's like, I might just blow a bunch of new insulation.

And I'm like, what are you doing?

It's not that they're not allowing it.

I haven't seen that here, at least where I am.

But a lot of times that you can only put so much in there and they don't want it to settle back down again.

It might be one of those things.

And if she had a company out there that's trying to push spray foam, of course they're gonna want you to remove all that blown in insulation so they can do spray.

You know, my mom, she's gonna go to Home Depot and rent the blower.

Right.

And dump bags of the fur in there and do it herself.

She's a bad.

Yeah, she's.

Yeah.

Anyway, she's.

Yeah.

That stuff will turn into a big, heavy brick.

You just keep blowing it in and blowing it in and blowing it in.

Then your ceiling caves in, by the way.

All of a sudden you got the drywall separating from the ceiling because.

Yeah.

Yeah, you can only put so much up in there.

Yeah, that's a good one.

All right, brother.

That wraps up our number one today.

If you guys want to get this list for spring home maintenance checklist, just head over to around the house online.com and we can get that over to you so you can go down and check those boxes yourself.

For John Dudley, I'm Eric G. You've been listening to around the House.