What home jobs should you do in June?

June home maintenance: school holiday jobs

The jobs that suit the June school holidays are the ones that are easier with the family at home, such as childproofing, anchoring tall furniture, painting a room and doing a mid-year clean. With everyone around, it is simpler to clear a room, move furniture and be in when a contractor visits. Pick the school holiday home projects that suit your flat and work through them over the break.

• Childproof the flat. Walk through each room with a childproofing checklist and note what a small child can reach, open or climb onto.
• Anchor tall furniture and TVs. The Consumer Product Safety Office says unstable furniture and TVs are a serious tip-over risk, especially for young children. It advises mounting or strapping flat-screen TVs to the wall, or using a suitable stand as the manufacturer recommends. See how to anchor furniture to the wall.
• Paint a room. A bedroom or study is easier to repaint when the family can plan around it. The price depends on the job, so compare companies that offer painting and ask what each quote includes.
• Do a mid-year clean. With extra hands at home, go room by room with a spring cleaning checklist, including cupboards, shelves and corners that are easy to skip.
• Check renovation hours before noisy work. If anchoring furniture, mounting a TV or putting up shelves means drilling, check the renovation hours first so the work falls within the allowed times.
• Prepare the flat before a holiday trip. If the family is travelling, go through the steps to take at home before an overseas trip.

If you have young children, do the childproofing and anchoring first, since tip-overs are a particular risk for them. The painting and the clean can then follow in whatever order suits your plans.

The Southwest Monsoon

June marks the start of the Southwest Monsoon, which runs from June to September, according to the Meteorological Service Singapore. In these months, Sumatra squalls occasionally hit between the predawn hours and midday, and short afternoon showers and thunderstorms are common.

Squalls are a good reason to check your windows now. HDB asks home owners to check windows once every 6 months to make sure they work smoothly and have no loose or worn-out parts. Windows that deteriorate can fall and cause serious injury to passers-by, and home owners can face penalties if a window falls through lack of maintenance.

When a squall is on the way, close and latch your windows and bring in loose items from ledges.

Haze readiness

The Southwest Monsoon months are also when the likelihood of transboundary haze affecting Singapore is higher. During haze, the National Environment Agency (NEA) publishes a 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) forecast range with a health advisory. Its advice for households is to close doors and windows when the outdoor air quality appears to be worsening, and to re-open them when it improves.

June is a good time to make sure the flat can be closed up properly before any haze arrives:

• Check that every window and door closes and latches fully, which ties in with the window check above.
• Know where to find the latest PSI forecast range and health advisory, and look at it each day while haze is around.
• Agree as a household who closes the windows if the air worsens while others are out.

Dengue checks

Rain and a flat left empty during a holiday trip can both leave water standing where you do not expect it. NEA says Aedes mosquitoes breed in clean, stagnant water, and water as small as a 20-cent coin is enough. It asks households to do the Mozzie Wipeout at least once a week, and it carries out dengue inspections of homes.

Make the weekly check part of your June routine:

• Empty water from plant saucers, pails and containers, and store containers so they cannot collect rain.
• Look at ledges, corners and any item left outside that could hold even a small pool of water.
• If you are going away, do the check before you leave and again when you are back.

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