Spring Exterior Cleaning Checklist for UK Homes

First: assess the winter damage

Before booking any cleaning, walk the property with binoculars and look up. Slipped or missing tiles, gaps along ridge lines, lead flashing that has lifted, and gutter sections that have dropped are all things winter produces and all are cheaper to fix in April than to discover in December.

Check the loft on a bright day too. New staining on rafters or felt that was not there in autumn tells you something got in over winter, and it is far easier to trace and fix in dry spring weather.

• Displaced, cracked or missing tiles
• Gaps or movement in ridge and hip lines
• Lifted or split lead flashing
• Sagging gutter runs or split downpipes
• New damp staining in the loft

Second: gutters and drainage

Spring gutter clearing catches what came off the roof through the winter — moss fragments, grit washed from tiles, and the last of the autumn leaves compacted at the outlets. It also picks up early blossom and seed, which blocks outlets surprisingly effectively.

Flush the system and check for leaking joints while the water is running. Winter frost is hard on uPVC unions, and a joint that was fine in October is quite often weeping by March.

Third: the roof itself

Spring is the ideal season for roof cleaning. Moss is at its most visible after a wet winter, and the milder, drier conditions from April onwards are exactly what a biocide treatment needs to work properly and to be left long enough on the surface.

If manual moss removal was carried out in autumn, spring is when the follow-up biocide should go on. That two-stage approach — scrape in autumn, treat in spring — produces excellent results and spreads the cost across two budgets.

Fourth: walls, then ground surfaces

Render and painted masonry take on their heaviest green through a damp winter, and soft washing in spring gives the whole summer for the treated surface to lighten and stay clear. Windows, frames and conservatory roofs follow directly after so run-off is dealt with once.

Then move to ground level: patio, paths and decking first, driveway last. Decking in particular deserves attention in spring because winter algae in the timber grain is a genuine slip hazard before anyone starts using the garden again.

• Soft wash render and painted masonry
• Clean windows, frames and conservatory roof
• Clean and treat patio, paths and decking
• Clean driveway, then re-sand and treat

Finish with the jobs that need dry weather

Repointing patio joints, re-sanding block paving and applying sealers all require the surface to be thoroughly dry and to stay dry afterwards. Save these for the end of the programme and pick a settled spell — they are the stages most often rushed and most often disappointing as a result.

The payoff for doing spring properly is a property that stays in good order through summer and goes into the next winter with clear drainage and no outstanding defects. That is the whole point of the exercise: the checklist is preventive maintenance dressed up as cleaning.

The bottom line

Spring's real value is diagnostic rather than cosmetic. The cleaning is pleasant and the property looks better for it, but the important half hour is the one spent looking up with binoculars and looking around the loft with the light off. A slipped tile or a lifted flashing found in April is a small bill; the same fault found in December is a much larger one.

Work through the list in order, leave anything requiring dry weather to the end, and try to get the roof and gutters done before the growing season really takes hold. Everything else can follow at whatever pace suits the budget — the property will be in good order either way, and you will go into next winter knowing exactly what condition it is in.

Frequently asked questions