It’s summer! Now is the time to gather your to-do list for your home’s summer maintenance plans to make sure your ducks are in a row for the upcoming fall, winter and spring. The summer months are the time of year when you need to be especially cognizant of home maintenance, taking care of your home’s exterior (and interior) areas to ensure they’re in good shape. With the pleasant, longer days, you’re able to do so much more outdoors! Miles Kimball has a great selection of outdoor home tips, as well as products, that make spring and summer cleaning fast and easy. We’ve put together four important summer outdoor home maintenance tips to ensure that all those essential tasks are checked off your list.

Clean Windows

When the sun is shining during the summer months, it’s easier than ever to spot those dirty windows. Springtime’s pollen and rains may have left your windows looking cloudy and streaked. Clean windows let more of that sweet sunshine in and provide a brighter, clearer view of all your summertime flowers and beautiful plants. Now is the time to clean them well, both inside and out. Although it’s quite easy to use your favorite traditional window washing method for ground-level windows, high and second story windows and windows can cause a little bit of a problem. A telescopic window washer, like our Long Handle Window Cleaner, is a great tool to have on hand. Thanks to its six-sectioned handle, it can be easily modified to take on those hard-to-reach windows. This must-have tool reaches up to 10 feet and has a two-sided cleaning head that features a foam scrubber on one side and a rubber squeegee on the other. It also includes a hook-and-loop microfiber sleeve that works great for ceiling fans and other light fixtures.

Empty Gutters

Debris, such as leaves, twigs and pine needles, has a way of clogging up gutters throughout the year. Dirty, debris-packed gutters, if they are left unattended and are not properly cleaned, can lead to roof and foundation issues. Keeping your gutters well cleaned is much easier (and less expensive) than paying for repairs down the road. To keep your gutters performing well, it’s important to clean them well at least once a year, depending on how many trees you have surrounding your home. The perfect time to do so is when the temperatures are nice. Experts suggest that the latest that gutter cleaning be performed is in the fall to prevent issues like ice dams over the winter. Miles Kimball has a great selection of home maintenance and gutter cleaning options, such as our handy Telescopic Gutter Brush. This aluminum brush extends up to 6 feet so you can easily clean the leaves, twigs and other debris from your gutters. Our Home & Gutter Flusher is also a great choice. This tool attaches to a standard garden hose and adds pressure to the water flow, quickly and easily blasting debris from your gutters and downspouts.

Trim Shrubs

Overgrown shrubs not only look messy and unkempt, they can be damaging to your siding and your home’s exterior. When greenery is allowed to grow too close to your home’s exterior, it can affect moisture evaporation and air circulation. This can ultimately cause mold, rot and other issues. During the summer, it’s easy to trim these shrubs to keep them away from your home’s siding, brick or stucco. It’s particularly easy if you have a sharp, easy-to-use tool that makes trimming and pruning quick and easy. Our Lightweight Garden Sheers provide a strong, yet easy to manage, way to trim small to medium-sized branches. From rose bushes to landscape shrubbery, our hedge shears are a must-have in your garden tool lineup.

Storage

Summer is a great time to clean out your sheds, tidy your outdoor storage areas and reassess your needs. Keeping all your spring, summer and fall gardening items in good condition and on-hand when they’re needed is important. Luckily, Miles Kimball is the place to go for your garden and garage storage and organization needs. Hoses can be a particular issue during summertime; a hose without convenient storage and organization can become quite tangled and can ultimately break and crack. Our Hose Holder is an affordable way to keep your hose neatly nestled next to your home, so it is ready for use whenever it is needed. For garages and sheds, keep your gardening tools and other items organized with our Corner Garden Tool Rack or our Garden Tool Organizer. Having a designated place to keep your shears, shovels, rakes and hoes makes it much easier to find them. Otherwise, these items have a way of taking over your garage.

Miles Kimball: Your Source for Outdoor Products

Make the most of what’s left of the summer and keep your lawn and garden area looking beautiful. You’ll find everything you need to create a colorful and well-tended garden at Miles Kimball. Shop here for lawn and gardening tools, planters and hanging baskets as well as garden rolls that are fun and easy. Don’t miss our outdoor lawn décor, including bird feeders, garden flags as well as spinners, chimes and windsocks.

Enjoy the Warmth and Complete Summer Tasks Go ahead — enjoy the warm summer months! However, make sure that you take care of those home maintenance tasks while the warmth is abundant. Before you know it, it will be time to pack things up for fall and winter.