Pollen Season Home Checklist for the Triangle

If you've lived in the Triangle for one spring, you know the week: cars, porches, patio furniture and puddles turn yellow-green almost overnight. Most of that visible dust is pine pollen, which is heavy and settles fast. It's a nuisance more than a hazard for most people, but it affects home maintenance in real ways. Here's a checklist for before, during and after.

Before it starts (late winter)

• Stock HVAC filters. You'll want to change them more often for a few weeks.
• Schedule painting and staining for after pollen season, so wet finishes don't trap a yellow film.
• Clean gutters of winter leaves, so they can handle spring storms and the pollen-and-catkin sludge that follows.
• Check screens on porches and windows; repair tears before you want windows open.
• Service the heat pump or AC before cooling season, while contractors aren't busy.

During peak pollen

• Keep windows closed on heavy days and run the HVAC fan with a good filter if anyone in the house has allergies.
• Change filters more often than usual. A filter clogged with pollen cuts airflow and makes the system work harder.
• Hold off on exterior painting and deck sealing. Pollen sticks to wet coatings.
• Rinse instead of scrubbing. A gentle rinse of porch floors and furniture is enough until the season ends.
• Don't pressure wash yet. You'll just do it again in two weeks.

After the pollen drops

• Wash siding, decks and screens. Pollen mixed with spring rain feeds mildew, especially on shaded walls and composite decks. Use gentle washing; high pressure damages wood and drives water behind siding.
• Clean gutters again. Pollen, tree flowers and seeds form a paste that clogs downspouts.
• Wash or replace HVAC filters one more time and check the outdoor unit's coil for buildup.
• Clean window tracks and sills where pollen and grit collect.
• Start painting and staining projects. Late spring, after the peak and before summer heat, is one of the best windows of the year. See our exterior painting guide.

Indoors

• Vacuum with a HEPA vacuum and wipe window sills.
• Wash bedding more often if anyone has allergies.
• Consider leaving shoes at the door.
• If your house is drafty, pollen and dust come in with the air. Air sealing reduces infiltration and is one of the upgrades on Duke Energy's Smart $aver rebate list; check current terms.

Screened porches

Screens don't stop pollen completely, but they cut what lands on furniture. Fine-mesh "no-see-um" screens catch more and also stop tiny insects later in the year, with slightly less airflow. Rinse screens gently from the inside out after the season. For porch design and materials, see our porches and decks guide.

HVAC filters: what to use

• Use the size and type your system specifies.
• Higher-efficiency filters capture more fine particles, but very restrictive filters can reduce airflow on some systems. Ask your HVAC contractor what your blower can handle.
• If your system has a media cabinet with a thick filter, follow the change interval but check it after peak pollen.

For more on system care and replacement, see our HVAC guide.

Roofs and gutters

Pollen and tree flowers wash off roofs into gutters, where they mix with seeds, catkins and pine needles into a dense mat. If you have gutter guards, check that the screens haven't been coated over; fine-mesh guards can shed water over the edge once they're blocked. On shaded roofs, the extra organic material feeds algae and moss. If you have black streaks, use a gentle, roof-safe cleaner after pollen season rather than pressure washing, which strips shingle granules. Look for loose shingles or lifted flashing while you're up on a ladder, and fix them before summer storms. See our roofing guide.

Timing spring projects