Our houses are our biggest investment and making sure they are in tip-top shape by doing some necessary home maintenance tasks will surely keep them from falling apart.
If you plan to live in your home for a very long time, this homeowner checklist will help ensure your home is safe and secure. If you are looking for a home renovation schedule, keeping up with these tasks as well as making major renovations can help ensure a better resale value in the future. Either way, proper maintenance of your home can provide a fighting opportunity to stand up for generations.
Like any other asset you own, your house needs to be regularly checked and promptly attended to with the proper maintenance to properly function.
Many homeowners ignore the sirens till their houses become a total wreck.
This is why we have rounded up 6 important home maintenance tasks you should start doing ASAP.
1- Get your air conditioner serviced
A regular air conditioner service is something that should be on top of your home maintenance Tasks checklist.
This means to hire an expert to clean the filters, clean the cooling fan, clean coils, check refrigerant leaks, and Check the accuracy of the thermostat.
This should be done after every season or at least twice a year.
Neglecting such regular maintenance will lead to a decline in your air conditioning performance and increase your energy usage accordingly.
2- Check your refrigerator
The refrigerator is probably the one appliance around the house that we never cease to use all throughout the day and during night time.
Which is why checking your refrigerator is extremely crucial to keeping your refrigerator running like new.
Every once in a while unplug your refrigerator and clean its coils from dust.
Also check the door seals that sometimes may be loose or have food stuck on them, which leaves the door slightly open; hence letting cool air out.
Last but least, make sure the refrigerator’s interior temperature is between 37 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit since a rise in temperature can compromise the safety of the food.
3- Fill grout cracks
Cracked grouts should never be ignored or left to get worse.
When noticing grout cracks between your floor tiles, you should attend to fixing the problem immediately as procrastinating will lead to moisture, dirt, mould and mildew.
Such problems will cost you even more to fix.
Hence, once noticing gaps between your floor tiles, you should hire an expert to repair the grout cracks and save yourself getting into an ever bigger problem later.
4- Fix water leakages
Small leakages if left unattended will compound over time and lead to an even bigger leakage that can be difficult to fix at once.
Spare yourself a headache and repair your leakages at once.
Water leakages are the worst whether they come in a small form like a leaking fitting or a major rupture in the main pipe in the wall.
Never underestimate any leakage in your house and seek the assistance of professionals to immediately repair any sort of damage in your pipes.
5- Replace that expired fire extinguisher
Every house should have at least one fire extinguisher as fires are a probability in any house.
First, you need to check the expiration date and purchase a new one if your existing extinguisher is expired.
Second, keep it somewhere accessible.
And third, you have to learn how to use one. You never know when a fire might occur and no one around to ask for help.
Better safe than sorry!
6- Double-check your smoke detector batteries
Smoke detectors are extremely important in any house.
Test your smoke detectors’ alarm sound and if it didn’t work, then it’s about time to change its batteries.
After changing the batteries, if your detector still doesn’t work, then you ought to buy a new detector at once and ditch that old one.
Observe Your House
Observing is not figuring out. It is not an analysis. Observation is a wonder. It is open and acceptable. It is real learning. Once you can notice potential problems around your home, then what? You can find out where to look and why. Here are quick observation areas.
- Don’t forget to look beside the lower levels, under windows and doors, and around the chimney.
- High-pressure windows, doors, sills, and caps, those that are not suspended or exposed south or without storms or gutters.
- Pruning around the chimney, under the valleys of the ceiling, under the poorly suspended gutters, in the corners or ends, deformed or melted wood.
- Water that collects or runs toward the house.
- Soft, unstable, or changing floors near external doors; in bathrooms around toilets and bathtubs; cracking of kitchen tiles.
- Color vanishing or paint peeling inside or outside.
- Wall cracks, especially from the corners of windows and doors.
- Basement or crawling water, or sweat ducts.
Use all of your senses to observe. Look for texture and color changes. Look for things that are not flat or plumb. Look for cracks, water, insects, ants, etc. The eye can notice a lot, but also pay attention to your feet. When walking, does the floor appear unstable or smooth? Listen to noises or squeaking. Touch the discolored areas to see if they are wet, or Smells bad. Does anyone start sneezing, have difficulty breathing, or have a headache when in a certain area? All these things could help you observe your home to maintain it.
