The West Michigan seasonal
home-maintenance calendar.

West Michigan throws the full deck at a house: freeze-thaw cycles, lake-effect snow, humid summers that grow algae on north-facing siding, and falls that drop enough leaves to clog a gutter in a weekend. The houses that age well aren't the ones that get the most expensive repairs — they're the ones whose owners do the small things on time. Here's the calendar we wish every homeowner on our route followed.

Spring (March–May): wash off winter

Winter leaves a film. Road salt, grime, and the first bloom of green algae sit on siding, brick, and concrete. Spring is the right window to deal with it before summer bakes it on.

• Soft-wash the house exterior. Low-pressure, plant-safe cleaning lifts algae and grime without forcing water behind siding the way a high-pressure wand does. Tackle north and shaded walls first — that's where growth starts.
• Clear the gutters of winter debris and check that downspouts carry water well away from the foundation before the spring rains.
• Walk the garage door. Cold snaps stiffen springs and lubricant. Listen for grinding, watch for jerky travel, and check that the door reverses on the safety sensor. Small noises now are cheap; a snapped spring in July is not.

Summer (June–August): protect the big surfaces

Long dry stretches are ideal for any job that needs to cure or dry — and the season most people forget the roof exists.

• Look up at the roof. Those black streaks aren't dirt; they're algae (Gloeocapsa magma) that holds moisture against shingles and shortens their life. A proper low-pressure roof treatment clears it without blasting away granules.
• Clean the driveway, deck, and patio. Summer is when you'll actually use them, and a clean surface is a safer, less slippery one.
• Lubricate garage-door rollers and hinges with a garage-door-specific lubricant (not WD-40). Quiet operation in summer means a door that still works when it's 10°F.

Fall (September–November): get ahead of the freeze

This is the most important season on the list. Everything you skip in fall becomes an emergency in January.

• Clean gutters after the leaves drop — not before. Clogged gutters in West Michigan mean ice dams, and ice dams mean water inside the walls.
• Book a garage-door tune-up before the first hard freeze. Spring tension, balance, and opener force all shift in the cold. A pre-winter tune-up is the single best way to avoid a no-open morning when it's below zero.
• Do a final exterior rinse if you didn't get to it in spring — going into winter clean slows how fast growth returns.

Winter (December–February): watch and react

Not much washing happens, but winter is when problems announce themselves.

• Keep the garage-door track clear of ice and packed snow at the base, and never force a frozen door — that's how panels bend and cables snap.
• Watch for ice dams at the roof edge and icicles over walkways; both signal a gutter or insulation issue to address come spring.
• Note anything that's struggling — a sticking door, a stained soffit — and put it on the spring list while it's fresh.

When it's bigger than a Saturday

Plenty of this you can do yourself. When a job needs a ladder, real equipment, or a flat-rate quote instead of a guess, that's what the two Elevation divisions are for. Garage-door tune-ups, spring and opener work, and installs go to Elevation Garage Door. House soft-washing, roof and gutter cleaning, and drives or decks go to Elevation Exteriors. Both quote flat-rate, work the Grand Rapids metro, and finish with proof the job was done right. If you're not sure which you need, reach the house and we'll point you to the right crew. And before you hand a bigger job to anyone, it's worth knowing how to vet a home-service contractor.

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