For Cedric Cahill, an entrepreneur with GreenHill G.P. and an expert in the field of home improvement, the first thing one should worry about once the snow melts is checking and cleaning out eavestroughs.

“They take significant damage,” said Cahill. “If they’re not installed right, there’s a lot of ice. There could be debris in there and you want to have proper evacuation of your water with the thaw coming on.”

When gutters are left cluttered, water gets clogged and stops draining from the roof causing it to leak into a variety of unwanted areas and eventually causing severe water damage to the property.

“People don’t realize how important they are in evacuating water from around their homes,” said Cahill. “It’s also important to keep them clean, as well.”

The second most important thing is to inspect the insulation in ones attic to make sure that it’s dry, that no water damage leaked through and that there aren’t any unwanted critters finding their way into the space.

“Make sure there’s no rodents or anything making their way into the attic space,” said Joel Boisvert, an entrepreneur also with GreenHill G.P. “So, that there aren’t any rodent droppings in there.”

Priority number three should be to check or change the filter on the heating and cooling furnace and checking the air vents.

According to Cahill, replacing the filter is key when it comes to producing healthy airflow around the house.

When left unchanged, clean airflow is restricted while producing contaminated air, which can lead to a number of illnesses in the long term, including dry cough, asthma and stuffy noses.

“That’s a huge one after a long season,” said Cahill. “Sometimes you won’t smell it. But go down and replace your filter, even if it might not be that bad. That’s the first thing you want to check is the air coming in.”

Home improvement can be time consuming, costly and it’s not easy. That’s why Cahill reminds people that if they’re not sure about how to do certain projects properly, the ideal solution is to call a professional who knows how to get the job done.

“If you’re at home doing drywall and you don’t know what you’re doing it can increase your cost significantly,” said Cahill. “It is time consuming as well and you are playing with your home, so a lot of things can go wrong.”

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