When we started Lenard Team Connections, we knew we had to reach out to Blaise Ingrasino, General Manager of Inspecticore. With 615 five star reviews on Google, it’s clear that he is a trusted resource on Long Island.

Blaise has a deep, authentic desire to share his knowledge and help people. Along with providing value to every person he works with, he continuously gives back to the community all year long. Over the past 18 months, Inspecticore has donated two meals to Island Harvest for every inspection they complete - they are already up to 6,000 meals!

On this episode, Blaise dives deep into tips for homeowners. Keep reading for Blaise’s spring home maintenance checklist, and be sure to check out the full episode, which is jam-packed with information!

Water Intrusion

We're coming out of hibernation and so are our homes. Homes are dynamic systems, and they need to be maintained and cared for.  Now that the weather's getting nicer, you need to walk the perimeter of the house, check out that building envelope to make sure that it stays nice and dry. 

Two things on Long Island that could really destroy a home is water intrusion and termites. So we need to keep the home nice and dry. When you're taking a walk around the house, make sure that your gutters and leaders are working properly. In the next couple of weeks, your gutters are going to be getting filled with debris. 

If you're comfortable, get up on a ladder to clean out the gutters. If not, have somebody come in, because if those gutters aren't moving stormwater away from the home, you're more than likely you're going to get water inside your basement. 

Leaders coming down from the gutters are also important. We have to make sure that they're intact and they move water at least five feet away from the house. 

And then, of course, window wells should be kept clear of debris, and window well covers kept in place. 

Termites

Termites love moist soil, so if there is dampness around the house, it will attract termites. On Long Island, we love to have those beautiful flower beds around the home, and we like to finish off the flower beds with mulch. Mulch is like a smorgasbord - it’s their favorite food.

We want the nice finished look, but not the termites. You have to make sure that you see at least four inches of foundation wall between the mulch and where your siding starts. Termites they don't like to be out in the atmosphere, and they typically won't go more than four inches up a foundation wall. 

Walk the perimeter of your home annually, inspecting for termites in the garage, sill plate, basement, and the front stoop. One telltale sign of termites is shelter tubes - little, brown tubes that look like sand, about the width of a pencil. If you see signs of termites, call a professional to assess and remedy the situation. 

AC Filters

We’re creatures of comfort. So as we get closer to the summer, make sure that your AC system is working. Now is the time to turn it on to make sure that it's it's turning over for you. You want to have a good temperature differential.

Here is how to figure out what the temperature differential is: take an instant-read thermometer and put it in one of the air vents. Turn on the AC system for about 15-20 minutes. That temperature should be between 12 and 18 degrees different than what the actual temperature is in the house. 

So if it's 80 degrees in the house, you want to see the air coming out of that register below 70 degrees and above 63. If the difference is less than that, the AC system isn’t working efficiently.

You also want to make sure that your air filters are clean, so you have enough air moving through it. For a standard filter, change the filter about every 30 days.

Cesspools

The cesspool system is something that is often overlooked until it’s backed up. You want to make sure that you're taking care of that system because we do not want to have a backup. Remember this cesspool system has its own biological environment; there is good bacteria and bad bacteria inside that system. 

With COVID-19, we're washing our hands a lot more. Every time soap and detergent goes into that cesspool system, it's killing off all the good bacteria. So you have to make sure that you're putting in a good cesspool supplement. You literally put them in the toilet and flush them down. 

Also, make sure that you let the system rest so it could reset. If you do a ton of laundry on Thursdays, try to give that system a little bit of a break. So that just organic waste could then go into the system to dilute all the detergents that you're putting into it. 

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