While most homeowners are blatantly aware of the importance of property maintenance, some smaller areas of maintaining a home often go unnoticed and overlooked. Unfortunately, these seemingly minor home issues can spiral out of control and lead to massive damage in the long run.
So, because there’s no doubt that you would rather avoid having to fork out massive amounts of money to repair your home, you should create a maintenance checklist for your home.
Your home maintenance checklist should include everything from the big tasks to the minor details of your home. With each changing season of the year, you will need to focus on different home areas.
That said, while you are creating your checklist, be sure to include and prioritize these often overlooked areas of home maintenance.
Seemingly Minor Circuit Board Repairs
The signs of a problematic circuit breaker can be blatant, or they can be minor and easily overlooked. When it comes to situations where you can smell an electrical burning stench that’s originating from your panel or noticing plugs that work are definite signs of an urgent issue, blinking lights and poor performing appliances are instances that are easy to overlook.
And even though circuit board repairs might seem minor, electrical issues can lead to severe damage to property or the entire electrical system.
And because you can replace a circuit breaker yourself in a few straightforward steps or contact an electrician to assess the situation for you, there’s no reason to leave the problem to snowball. That said, if you plan to replace a circuit breaker yourself, you can find pushmatic breakers easily online, and you should also consider watching a video tutorial or finding a step-by-step guide.
Draining The Water Heater Routinely
A water heater is quite a pricey home essential, and you won’t live comfortably without one, as you won’t have hot water. Fortunately, a water heater typically lasts about ten to fifteen years. However, that’s if you maintain it properly over the years.
One of the major ways that you can prolong the life of your water heater is by draining out all the water once each year. You can do this simply by following the manufacturer’s instructions. Draining the water heater will help clean out the build-up of minerals at the bottom of the tank that can cause problems.
Cleaning Out The Gutters
It really can be an absolute pain to clean out the gutters, especially during fall. However, if you don’t, your gutters will soon need replacing, and you might have to spend on other costly damages. Instead of leaving this home maintenance task for later, you should clean the gutters regularly.
Maintaining The HVAC Unit
The HVAC or heating and cooling system of your home are responsible for keeping the temperatures comfortable and stable. Beyond that, this unit also influences the quality of indoor air, which is why maintenance is pretty important.
And when it comes to the task of keeping up with maintenance for this system, it’s typically best to rely on a professional service, especially if you don’t know much about these units. Regular maintenance will prevent costly repairs or the potential need for a full system replacement.
Investing In Pest Control Services
While most indoor and outdoor pests are simply gross and hard to get rid of, they can also cause damage to your property over time. For example, termites can eat away at your home’s structure over time. Moreover, termites are definitely not the only creepy critters that can damage the value of your home.
Regular pest control services are necessary no matter where you live or whether you’ve had a pest problem or not. And because pest infestations can be difficult to manage, you should invest in preventative pest control measures even if you don’t notice any pests lurking about your home and garden.
Flushing Out Clogs Regularly
Flushing out clogs is one of a few ways to prolong the life of your plumbing system. Clogs can worsen if neglected, and this can lead to burst pipes, leaking pipes, and other costly problems that you really don’t want.
It’s also pretty elementary to flush clogs out; you can use a homemade mixture of baking soda, lemon, and vinegar to create a cleaning volcano that will dissolve the clog, use a plunger, or opt for store-bought chemical drain killers. However, if these solutions don’t seem to work, you should contact a plumbing service to remove the clog before the problem gets worse.
Keeping The Yard Neat
While yard maintenance and upkeep can be mundane, physically taxing, and time-consuming for those who don’t enjoy gardening, the overall appearance of your yard has a direct impact on the total value of your home, as it largely influences perceived value.
Unfortunately, a yard can also quickly transform into an unsightly jungle of overgrown plants, weeds, and dying lawn. However, you can minimize yard work by opting for low-maintenance landscaping designs that aim to reduce the amount of general ongoing maintenance required.
Furthermore, you can also consider relying on landscaping services that will help you create the yard of your dreams and maintain its charm for you for a relatively affordable cost.
Having a home maintenance checklist is vital, and ensuring all the more minor details are tended to is just as important. But beyond that, when you’re creating your annual home maintenance checklist, you will also be able to budget for each project and task.
Simply knowing how much money you will need to divert towards home care and upkeep is the best way of ensuring these costs never spring up on you when you least expect it and have not yet planned for it. What’s more, you can also find ways of reducing costs where possible when creating your checklist and budget. For example, you might find that you can manage some areas of home care and upkeep with a DIY approach, which can ultimately save you a small fortune.
