Regular home maintenance can help you protect your investment and ensure that your home is ready to get the best price when it's time to put it on the market. Remember that owning a home is a long-term financial strategy, so it's important to treat it as an investment. One of the main reasons to maintain your home is to make it last longer. Well-maintained homes can stand the test of time and will need major repairs or improvements less frequently.
It's unfortunate that in today's world a lot of things aren't designed to last long. Modern homes may only last 20 to 40 years before major repairs are needed. In addition, it has been said that a typical home may require up to 50% replacement (in dollars) after only 30 years of ownership. Incremental investments in maintenance each year can help extend the life of a home and its components far beyond this.
Ultimately, one day major repairs will still be needed; however, the benefits of performing maintenance will far outweigh its cost. Possibly the most complicated task, maintaining the structure of the building and focusing on features such as walls and roof, is extremely important. Small problems, such as cracks in walls or moisture, are relatively easy solutions that, if avoided, can cause major problems that put the entire house at risk. An important aspect of this is maintaining the roof and carrying out the necessary repairs.
In addition to this, be sure to repair arches and lintels, address subsidence, and fix sloped or cracked walls as well. If you're not sure where to start, contacting a contractor for an inspection is a good first step. As a homeowner, in addition to making sure your home equipment looks good, home maintenance is incredibly important. It will usually involve things like making minor repairs to household equipment, looking for leaks and cracks in walls and ceilings, floors, and wall paints.
The importance of regular home maintenance. If your property has trees, have it inspected by a certified arborist, who can check for signs of disease or dead branches and detect problems before they worsen and kill a tree. The untrained eye could miss signs of damage, and a dead or dying tree poses a safety hazard to you, your home and neighboring properties. Even if you don't use the fireplace regularly, the chimney still needs a regular check.
A chimney transports hazardous gases from the chimney, wood stove, or oven out of the house, helping to keep indoor air breathable. According to the Chimney Safety Institute of America, your chimney should be inspected annually and cleaned periodically depending on how often you use it. Once the leaves fall, call your trusted gutter company such as Gutter Cleaning Frederick MD to clean and inspect them. Any repairs that need to be made to gutters or downspouts must be done before winter arrives.
Your workers should also inspect the roof for loose or broken shingles. Schedule work before heavy snow, which could leave leaves and debris frozen in gutters, faucets and hoses. Before the first freeze, drain and turn off the outdoor faucets so they don't freeze. Roll up your hoses and store them for the winter.
Maintain your oven and its ducts. A clean system will be more energy efficient and an inspection will alert you to problems. Check and replace air filters, as needed. Test the thermostat to make sure it works properly.
Make sure that the heating vents are open and that nothing is blocking them. If you didn't clean or inspect your chimney in spring, call a chimney sweep now and do it before you start using the chimney or oven. Clothes dryers cause 2,900 fires a year, and many fires occur in the fall and winter, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.
Lint is a major culprit, so have your dryer vent inspected and cleaned annually by an HVAC specialist who specializes in dryer ducts or vents. We've already determined that owning a home is one of the biggest investments you can make. With proper maintenance, you can protect your investment and get the best return for your efforts and money. Homes with attractive exterior appeal are easily noticed, and prospective buyers will opt for homes that don't require major renovations or improvements for a few years.
A poorly maintained home will attract lower rates, as buyers will consider all the work that needs to be done to fix things. Home maintenance, in this case, does not refer to general everyday tasks, such as cleaning and gardening, but rather to tasks that can be considered more complicated. In addition, these problems will cost a significant amount compared to the minimal costs associated with regular maintenance and minor repairs. In addition, scheduled maintenance procedures allow you to test your appliances to ensure that they are operating efficiently.
Other important tasks related to visual maintenance include oiling the deck, maintaining other wood features throughout the house, and pressure cleaning any outdoor area. The following table shows a list of typical household items that require maintenance and how much it costs to maintain and replace them. Over time, many common household items will need to be repaired or replaced, however, with a little planning and forethought, performing regular maintenance will go a long way in saving money and reducing your stress level. The last reason to perform annual maintenance on your home is that it will give you peace of mind.
Another important reason to maintain your home is to reduce the likelihood of a major repair or breakdown. While this can be an exciting experience, it also comes with a number of responsibilities, one of which is home maintenance. Fortunately, you can prevent the incident from happening for the first time by practicing preventive maintenance of the drain system. While it is true that maintenance requires some money, dedication and hard work, in the long run it saves much more money than if the maintenance were not done.
And if I've convinced you, then I'd love it if you started creating your own home maintenance program so that you can fix things properly once and for all. In the long term, avoiding home maintenance tasks will cause problems to build up and eventually cause significant damage or safety hazards, in the form of poor structural integrity or ineffective safety features, such as smoke detectors. Regarding where you should focus your maintenance and repair efforts, the above-mentioned areas of verifying safety features, maintaining public services, inspecting the building structure, and maintaining visual appeal are all important. Other maintenance items that could add value to your home include upgrading doors and windows, as well as the garage door.
Home maintenance can seem like a daunting task, especially for a new homeowner who has never seen a boiler up close, let alone a depleted one. . .
