Ace Hardware's Top Ten To-Do's to Recover Your Home Following the Polar Vortex

OAK BROOK, IL--(Marketwired - Apr 24, 2014) - Ace Hardware, the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the industry, is celebrating the departure of one of the longest and harshest winters on record by helping homeowners get their homes ready for the arrival of warmer weather. While enjoying the spring thaw, many consumers will neglect the simple home maintenance tasks needed to assess the potential damage caused by the cold, icy conditions of the winter's "polar vortex." Ace Hardware worked with its Home Expert, Lou Manfredini, to identify the most common repairs homeowners will face as a result of the unforgiving winter season.

"Now is the time to address any damage caused by what felt like an endless winter," said Manfredini. "Your neighborhood Ace Hardware store is prepared to help homeowners take on their post-'polar vortex' (I call it PPV for short) home projects by offering the personalized advice, helpful service and products needed to get the job done right the first time."

In an effort to help homeowners make sure their homes are ready for the warmer seasons ahead, Manfredini offers this top ten checklist of what should be assessed around the home following the severe winter season.

1. Take a look at the downspouts around your home and double check to make sure they are clear, connected and draining away from the home to prevent water backups and leaks.

2. Walk around your home and inspect the exterior walls for loose siding, cracked mortar and any large areas of chipped paint. Be sure to make repairs, as needed, and if painting is required, scrape away loose paint, sand the area and use an exterior grade paint like Clark+Kensington® paint+primer in one.

3. Take a look at your roof with binoculars from across the street to make sure it has no missing or raised shingles and that the flashing, which prevents leaks around chimneys, is still in good condition.

4. Double-check the seals around the exterior of doors and windows for separations or gaps. Be sure to fill any openings with a caulking such as Ace Siliconized Acrylic Caulk, which can be painted if necessary.

5. Salt can take a toll on your walkways and driveways. Pressure wash these areas, as well as decks and patios, to remove winter build-up.

6. After thoroughly cleaning the hard surfaces outside of the home be sure to check for cracks and holes and make repairs with the proper products. For asphalt, try Black Jack® Blacktop Crack And Hole Repair and for concrete, Dap® Concrete Patch gets the job done.

7. This winter's unusually cold temperatures also took a toll on many lawns and gardens. Bring them back to life by raking up all of the debris and dead thatch. Next, core-aerate the soil and apply organic soil treatments such as Revive® to rebalance the soil's PH.

8. Take care of bushes and trees around the home by trimming back dead branches to promote new growth this spring.

9. After cleaning out plant debris from gardens, turn the soil in flowerbeds, add black dirt, a peat moss like Premier® Sphagnum, and compost, which will help to enrich the ground and promote growth of future plantings.

10. HVAC systems worked overtime this winter so they should be inspected and cleaned by a professional contractor to make sure that everything is running efficiently. Remember to also change the filters every 30-60 days.

For more helpful tips and advice on how get your home ready for the warmer seasons ahead, stop by your neighborhood Ace Hardware store or visit www.acehardware.com.

About Ace Hardware
For 90 years, Ace Hardware has been known as the place with the helpful hardware folks in thousands of neighborhoods across America, providing customers with a more personal kind of helpful. In 2013, Ace ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Home Improvement Retail Stores, Seven Years in a Row" according to J.D. Power. With more than 4,850 hardware stores locally owned and operated across the globe, Ace is the largest hardware cooperative in the industry. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., Ace and its subsidiaries currently operate 14 distribution centers in the U.S. and also have distribution capabilities in Shanghai, China; Panama City, Panama; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Its retailers' stores are located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and approximately 60 countries. For more information on Ace, visit www.acehardware.com.