Season by season, what Pittsburgh weather, insects and township pickup schedules do to a house, and which cleaning tasks fit each stretch of the year.
Western Pennsylvania has four real seasons, and each one dirties a house in its own way. Winter brings snow and grit, late spring brings lanternfly hatching, July brings the most rain of the year, and fall brings leaves and stink bugs in the same few weeks.
This calendar uses Pittsburgh's 1991 to 2020 weather normals, Penn State Extension insect timing and local public works schedules to suggest what to clean, and when, through a typical year.
January is the coldest month, with a normal daily mean of 28.8 degrees Fahrenheit. The city averages 44.1 inches of snow a season over roughly 40 days with measurable snow. July is the warmest month, with a normal high of 82.9 degrees, and also the wettest at the airport, at 4.26 inches. February is the driest at 2.62 inches.
Sunshine is scarce. Pittsburgh gets about 45 percent of possible sunshine across the year, rising to 56 percent in July. Summer dew points sit around 60 degrees in July and August. Climatologists classify the city as hot-summer humid continental or humid subtropical depending on the temperature line used, which is a fair description of a place that gets both a real winter and a sticky summer.
This is the heaviest stretch for floors. Boots carry slush and grit across the entry dozens of times a week, and radiators and forced air heat push dust around closed-up rooms. Focus on the first ten feet inside each door, the stair treads and the rugs that catch the most traffic.
Cranberry Township runs two weeks of Christmas tree pickup in January, a reminder to vacuum fallen needles out of rug fibers and from behind furniture after the tree goes. The winter cleaning guide has more on boots, mats and floor care.
Snow melt turns yards and paths to mud before grass fills in, so entry floors stay busy into spring. Once the last snow is done is the natural time for a full deep clean: baseboards, blinds, window tracks, ceiling fans and vents, after a winter with the windows shut.
Upper St. Clair holds a spring yard waste pickup in April for bagged leaves and debris left over from winter, which makes April a good month to clean up porches and mudrooms too. Penn State Extension says spotted lanternfly eggs hatch from late April through June, so screens and window sills are worth a look from May on.
With July the wettest and warmest month and dew points near 60 degrees, bathrooms and basements dry slowly. Keep the bathroom fan running after showers and wipe shower walls more often. Basements that smell musty need airflow and, if there is real water, a qualified contractor; cleaning does not fix moisture.
Lanternfly adults appear in July. Their sugary honeydew leads to sooty mold on decks, patios and cars, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Indoors, the job is to keep patio door glass and sills wiped so the residue does not get tracked in.
Penn State Extension says brown marmorated stink bugs gather on houses on warm September and October days and can enter in large numbers. Vacuum them up as they appear, keeping in mind the extension's note that the vacuum may hold their smell for a while. Window tracks and the tops of window frames collect the most.
Leaves follow. Mt. Lebanon vacuums loose curbside leaves on most streets each fall, and Upper St. Clair collects bagged leaves on set dates from late October into early December. The City of Pittsburgh runs curbside yard debris collection twice a year. Until the leaves are gone, crushed leaf dust settles in entries and on hard floors, so late November is a good time for one more deep clean before the holidays.
The questions Pittsburgh homeowners ask most often about this topic, answered plainly.
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