The Spring Exterior Cleaning Checklist for Minnesota Homes

Start with gutters and the roofline

Winter is hard on gutters, ice, debris, and heavy snow can loosen hangers or leave leaves frozen in place since fall. Clear them first and confirm downspouts flow freely before you tackle anything else, since a clogged system undoes work done lower down the house.

Screens and tracks

Winter packs sand and grit into window tracks and leaves a film of dust on every screen. Washing screens and vacuuming tracks in spring keeps windows sliding smoothly and stops that grit from working its way back onto clean glass.

Windows last

Clean windows and screens after the gutters and roofline are done, otherwise debris and dirty runoff from up top just lands back on freshly cleaned glass. This is also when hard-water spots from a full season of sprinklers tend to be most visible.