When you’re flat out each day taking care of your family, cooking, cleaning, going to your job and otherwise ticking things off your to-do list, it’s hard to schedule in any other tasks. However, if you want to keep costs down over the years and ensure your property stays in the best condition possible, it’s important to maintain your home regularly.
No matter the age of your house, you need to schedule in various maintenance jobs each year to keep it looking good and lasting well. Here are some key tips you can follow for effective home maintenance.
For starters, before you start tackling various maintenance and home deep cleaning tasks around your home, take the time to create a maintenance schedule for yourself. This might seem like an annoying extra job, but in fact it will help you work out what needs to be done and when. This might seem like an annoying extra job, but in fact it will help you work out what needs to be done and when. This way, you’ll ensure you don’t forget to do particular tasks and will in turn catch small issues early on, before they turn into large ones that are costly and stressful.
Create a plan that covers the next 12-month period. Your plan should be broken down into tasks which have to be done monthly, quarterly, twice per year and annually. Plus, as part of your planning, take photos of your home right now. By documenting the current condition of your home, you will be able to see if things go downhill dramatically when you look at areas again in the coming months. Sudden deterioration can alert you to issues such as leaking pipes.
We tend to use our heating and cooling systems a lot in both winter and summer, so if you want to keep yourself and your family warm in the cold months and cool in the hotter months, you need to maintain your HVAC systems. Doing this will also help to keep costs down since maintenance will prevent large repairs from being needed as often. Your energy bill will also be reduced.
In particular, the filters on your systems must be cleaned and replaced once or twice per year; generally in fall and spring is best, before you need to use the unit(s) all day and night. Get an electrician to check out the condensation hose and the ventilation of your HVAC as these tend to be common areas that cause problems.
Organizing this kind of maintenance will help to stop the need for budget-denting heating and cooling repairs over the years. Since these units are so expensive, you may also want to cover yourself with some additional insurance. For example, do a home appliance insurance comparison online to find an affordable option for your needs.
As for maintenance jobs, one of the most important ones, which not enough people actually do, is de-clogging gutters. Your gutters can quickly get filled up with all sorts of debris, such as leaves, dirt, sticks and even things like tennis balls or Frisbees. If you don’t remove all the gunk at least a couple of times per year (though quarterly is often best), you can have ice dams and icicles form in your gutters. When this occurs, water pools over time and can cause rust and holes to develop.
If you have trees hanging over your gutters, cut them back each year to help stop the build up from happening so quickly. Also, consider getting micromesh guards put on your gutters. These help to stop leaves, pine needles, shingle grit and other bits and pieces from accumulating. Another option that can work well is hinged gutter guards. These catch mess too, but they can be lifted up and out of the way when you want to hose out gutters, which is helpful.
Your roof also needs to be taken care of. It should be inspected by a professional roofer or other experienced tradesperson at least once per year to see if there is any damage that needs to be repaired. It can also be cleaned at this time.
Keep in mind that even though you might not be able to see it from the ground, your roof can wear down over time. Harsh weather may lead to broken shingles and tiles which, in turn, can mean that holes and leaks occur, eventually causing havoc inside your home. Vines and moss and other detritus can also grow over your roof and cause tiles to lift up, so roofers can be on the lookout for this when they do an inspection.
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I love this. I like to be proactive. I'm in a condo now, and they are horrible about taking care of problems, no matter what you do, they fester until it becomes a crisis. I like to have things checked before there is a problem, a plan for maintenance and evaluation to keep emergency repairs, etc., to a minimum, and keeping them minor rather than waiting until it is a bigger, expensive repair.