Summer Home Exterior Maintenance: Your Seasonal Checklist

Summer in the Kitchener-Waterloo region is the ideal time for exterior home maintenance. Temperatures are warm, humidity is moderate, and materials — caulk, sealers, paint, deck stain — all perform and cure at their best. But summer has a calendar too. Miss the right windows and you'll either wait until fall or end up rushing a job that deserves time to do properly. Here's everything to do from May through August.

Why Summer Is Prime Time for Exterior Projects

Ontario homeowners often focus their maintenance energy on spring and fall, treating summer as a relaxation season. That's a missed opportunity. Summer conditions — temperatures consistently above 15°C, low precipitation relative to fall and spring, and long daylight hours — create optimal conditions for virtually every exterior maintenance task.

Materials behave better in summer. Caulk cures faster and more completely. Asphalt sealer achieves maximum penetration into a warm pavement surface. Deck stain soaks into wood that has dried out after spring rains. Pressure washing results are more dramatic on surfaces that have had a full year to accumulate grime.

Summer also has the most flexible scheduling. Unlike fall, where gutter cleaning has a hard deadline and driveway sealing closes in early October, summer tasks can generally be rescheduled around weather without major consequences. This makes it the most forgiving season to organize professional services for your home.

The key is understanding what each task's optimal summer timing is — some are best done in late May (post-pollen window cleaning), others in July (driveway sealing at peak temperatures), and still others mid-August before the fall rain season begins.

Window Cleaning Season: Two Optimal Windows

Summer offers the two best window cleaning opportunities of the year: post-pollen in late May, and mid-to-late August before fall weather arrives.

Late May window cleaning (post-pollen): Southern Ontario's pollen season typically peaks from mid-April through mid-May. Silver birch, Manitoba maple, and oak trees release enormous quantities of pollen that coats every outdoor surface, including windows. Cleaning windows before pollen season ends is futile — they'll be yellow-green within days. Wait until pollen counts drop in late May, then clean.

Late May window cleaning also removes winter's accumulated road salt grime, sand, and oxidation from glass that has been exposed to five months of Ontario weather. Clean windows dramatically change how much natural light enters your home — especially relevant in Ontario where we embrace every bit of summer sun.

August window cleaning: By August, summer insect activity, dust, and summer rain splash have accumulated on your glass. An August cleaning sets your windows up well heading into fall, when the angle of the sun is lower and every smear and streak becomes visible. It also prevents road salt accumulation from bonding to any summer-accumulated grime on the glass over winter.

Our professional window cleaning team cleans all exterior and interior panes, including screens and window tracks, using pure water technology that leaves no streaks or spots — even on the high windows that are genuinely difficult to reach safely without proper equipment.

Pressure Washing Projects: What to Tackle in Summer

Pressure washing is one of the most satisfying home maintenance tasks — the before-and-after transformation is dramatic and immediate. Summer is the best time for most pressure washing projects because surfaces are fully dry (no spring frost in the substrate), temperatures allow for fast drying after washing, and the results are visible and appreciated for the whole outdoor entertaining season.

Driveways and walkways: Winter road salt and sand leave a dull, grey residue on concrete and asphalt that no amount of rain removes. A professional pressure washing in May or June restores the original colour and removes embedded sand that becomes a slip hazard. It also reveals any new cracks from the winter freeze-thaw cycle that need to be addressed before fall sealing.

Patios and pool decks: Concrete, interlocking brick, and natural stone patios accumulate algae, mold, and food stains over winter and spring. Pressure washing before outdoor entertaining season begins (ideally May-June) ensures you're starting the summer with a clean surface. Interlocking brick should be washed at moderate pressure (800-1200 PSI) to avoid dislodging the jointing sand between pavers.

Decks: Wooden decks require careful pressure washing — too high a pressure (above 1500 PSI) will roughen and raise the wood grain, making the surface feel splintery and uneven. After washing a wood deck, allow it to dry completely (3-5 dry days in summer) before assessing whether it needs staining or sealing.

Siding: Summer soft washing or low-pressure washing removes the algae and mildew that accumulate on north-facing siding and shaded areas. Getting this done in June or July means the treatment has the entire summer to keep mildew from returning before fall.

Learn more about our professional pressure washing services — we offer driveways, patios, siding, and fences throughout the Kitchener-Waterloo region.

Deck and Patio Care: The Summer Staining Window

If your wood deck needs staining or sealing, summer is the ideal time — but timing within the season matters. Wood stain requires the wood to be clean and dry, with surface temperatures between 10°C and 35°C. In Ontario, this means late May through August, with a preference for June and early July before heat extremes arrive.

The process for a deck staining project follows a clear sequence:

1. Clean first: Pressure wash the deck and allow 3-5 days to dry completely. Testing with a moisture meter (wood should be below 15% moisture content) gives you a reliable go-ahead signal.
2. Sand if needed: If the old stain is peeling or the wood has raised grain from previous washing, sand before applying new stain.
3. Apply stain in the shade: Direct sun causes stain to dry too fast, leading to lap marks. Work in the morning on north-facing sections and move with the shade.
4. Two thin coats beat one thick coat: A single heavy application doesn't penetrate as well as two thinner applications, and is more likely to peel.

For patios and concrete surfaces, consider having them sealed in summer. Concrete sealer penetrates best when the surface is warm and dry, and provides the protection that prevents Ontario's freeze-thaw cycles from spalling the surface through winter.

Gutter Mid-Season Check: The Cottonwood Problem

Most homeowners think of gutter cleaning as a fall task — and the main cleaning certainly is. But June brings a lesser-known problem in the Kitchener-Waterloo region: cottonwood fluff. Cottonwood and poplar trees release enormous quantities of white fluffy seeds in early June, and these accumulate in gutters like cotton candy. When wet, cottonwood fluff matts down into a dense, water-retaining plug that can completely block gutters within days of a heavy seed release.

If you have cottonwood or poplar trees near your home, inspect your gutters in mid-June. Cottonwood blockages cause overflow during summer storms that can damage landscaping and deposit soil against your foundation — less dramatic than winter ice dam damage, but still worth addressing.

June is also a good time to check that gutter hangers haven't been loosened by winter ice loads. Walk the length of each gutter from the ground after a rain and look for sagging sections or sections that are pulling away from the fascia. Loose hangers are easy to re-drive in summer, and addressing them now prevents the hanger failure and gutter drop that occurs when winter's ice weight returns.

Book your main fall gutter cleaning in summer — the best companies fill their November calendars quickly, and booking ahead ensures your preferred date.

Driveway Sealing: The Sweet Spot

While driveway sealing can technically be done from May through early October, the sweet spot for optimal results in Ontario is June through early August. Here's why:

Asphalt sealer penetrates best when the pavement surface is warm. A driveway in full summer sun in July can reach surface temperatures of 45-55°C — warm enough that the sealer becomes nearly liquid-thin upon contact and penetrates deeply into the asphalt structure. Early-season applications (May) on cooler pavement don't achieve the same penetration depth.

The practical requirements for successful driveway sealing are:

• Air temperature above 15°C and rising (not falling) during application
• No rain forecast for 24-48 hours
• Pavement dry for at least 24 hours before application
• No application in direct midday sun in extreme heat (the sealer dries too fast)

A newly sealed driveway needs 24-48 hours before foot traffic and 3-5 days before vehicle traffic. Planning around a weekend with good weather forecasts is the simplest approach. For driveways with existing cracks, all cracks should be filled and given 24 hours to cure before sealing — crack filler applied the same day as sealer won't bond properly.

Our driveway sealing service includes thorough cleaning, crack filling where needed, and application of professional-grade sealer. We book up quickly for summer slots — call in May or June to secure your preferred date.

Landscaping for Drainage: Set It Up Now for Fall Success

Summer is the easiest time to address landscaping issues that affect your home's drainage and exterior condition. The ground is workable, the weather is cooperative, and you can see exactly where water flows during a summer rain storm.

Trim overhanging branches: Branches that overhang or contact your roof, gutters, or siding cause three problems. They deposit debris directly into gutters, creating clogs. They hold moisture against siding and shingles, promoting algae and mold. And they pose a physical damage risk during summer storms. Summer is the ideal time to trim — trees are in full leaf, making it easy to see exactly which branches overhang where, and trimming live wood in summer heals faster than cuts made in winter or early spring.

For major tree work near the house, hire a certified arborist. Branches near your roof line are in a fall zone that requires professional rope work — they don't just drop straight down when cut.

Address low spots in the yard: Low spots that collect standing water after summer rains become major problems in winter when that water saturates and then freezes the soil. Topsoiling and re-grading low areas in summer — when the ground is dry and workable — is much easier than trying to do the same job in wet fall conditions.

Manage mulch depth: Organic mulch is beneficial, but too much piled too close to your foundation creates a moisture-retaining environment that promotes mold, insects, and wood rot in siding and trim. Keep mulch at least 6 inches from the foundation wall and ensure the surface of the mulch slopes away from the house. Summer is the time to rake and redistribute mulch that has piled up against the foundation over the winter and spring.

D&D Home Services TeamExterior Cleaning Experts

D&D Home Services is Kitchener-Waterloo's trusted exterior cleaning company serving Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, and Guelph.