Start outside. Here's why.
Everybody starts inside with closets and cupboards. But along the Wasatch Front, winter does more damage outside than in — inversion particulate, road grit, snowmelt splash, and freeze-thaw all leave marks that get worse if you leave them through another summer.
The outside list, in the right order
1. Check your sprinklers before the first cycle. Do this before anything else. Run each zone and watch for heads spraying the house. Every cycle that hits glass leaves mineral deposits behind. Ten minutes now saves you real money later.
2. Clean the windows — exterior first. Winter film plus spring pollen is the worst combination the glass sees. This is the single change that makes the biggest visible difference to a house.
3. Wash the screens. Dusty screens undo clean glass on the first windy day.
4. Clear the tracks. Grit, moisture, dead bugs. Ten minutes per window, or add it to a cleaning visit.
5. Check the gutters. Everyone cleans gutters in fall, which is right — but a spring check catches what blew in over winter and confirms nothing came loose under snow load. See gutter cleaning.
6. Walk the exterior. Look for caulk that's cracked over winter, weatherstripping that's gone brittle, and paint that's lifting.
The inside list
- Wipe interior glass and sills (once a year is plenty for most homes)
- Vacuum window tracks
- Reverse ceiling fans
- Replace furnace/AC filters before cooling season
- Dust the tops of things — door frames, fan blades, high shelves
Timing it right for Utah
Late April through May is the sweet spot. Late enough that the pollen surge has mostly passed, early enough that you get the whole summer out of it.
Going too early is the common mistake — clean in March and you'll do it again in May when the trees let loose.
What to hand off
Be honest about the ladder items. Second-story windows and gutters are where people get hurt, and it isn't a skill issue. Federal safety data attributes roughly 34,000 emergency-room-treated ladder-fall injuries a year, and about half of those happen from heights of just six to ten feet — which is exactly gutter and second-story height.
That's the part worth paying someone for. The rest of the list is genuinely DIY.
Want the outside handled in one visit? We do windows, screens, tracks, and gutters together. Get a free quote.