Summer is around the corner, and with the warmth of the summer months comes an increase in community space use. Whether your community’s summer hotspot is the community pool, grill area, golf courses, playgrounds, or sports areas, now is the perfect time to ensure these spaces are primed for summer gatherings in your community. By taking care of these shared spaces before the peak of summer, your association’s board can identify areas that may require immediate or future attention, maintenance, clean-up, or renovations. As you gear up for these summer gatherings, consider these three helpful steps to ensure your community’s spaces are prepped and up to date with maintenance year-round: 

1. Pre-Summer Assessment and Planning: Begin your summer prep by assessing each space to identify areas requiring maintenance or attention. Make a checklist of tasks, ranging from minor touch-ups to more significant renovations, based on urgency, safety, and functionality. This proactive approach allows for efficient planning and allocation of resources for projects before, during, and after summer. Remember: Not everything needs to be done immediately. Prioritize areas that need immediate assistance and save other less urgent projects for after the summer months. It’s best to avoid a “band-aid mentality,” where your community is repairing projects as needed without considering time, budget, or season – after all, paint jobs in the middle of summer heat and rain or sod and garden repairs in the middle of winter can be a costly waste of time and resources! 
2. Prioritizing Summer Maintenance and Clean-Up: Dedicate time during your community space assessment to reviewing routine, urgent maintenance tasks that must be done before the upcoming summer gatherings, such as cleaning debris, power washing, painting, inspecting equipment for wear and tear, pool maintenance, and refreshing landscaping. Pay special attention to high-traffic areas and amenities that require extra care, such as pool chemicals, pool deck furniture upkeep, gas grill necessities, common space fencing issues, or overgrown or low-hanging branches and greenery. If there is no set community maintenance schedule, make a maintenance plan to review with your community manager. A regular upkeep schedule helps enhance the appearance of the shared facilities and prolongs the lifespan of community assets, reducing the risk of damage and the need for costly repairs down the line.
3. Outlining Future Projects and Renovations: Once more significant projects have been identified and deferred to a later season, make note of these projects and rank their priorities from most to least urgent. If applicable, list these projects in the community budget prep for the following year and communicate with your community manager to coordinate vendor bids for these larger-scale community projects. Set a realistic schedule for these projects to be completed in an orderly fashion. In the long run, this helps the community save time and money while keeping up to date with the community’s shared space needs, preventing and protecting the community from unwanted and unscheduled special assessments down the line. 

By following these tips and taking proactive measures to prepare your community’s spaces for summer gatherings, you can create inviting environments where residents can come together to relax, socialize, and celebrate not only during the summer months but also year-round!