Maintaining your Home

Maintaining your home is a necessity if you want to maintain the value in your investment.

One of the most important reasons for maintaining your home is your family. Your family has the right to enjoy a healthy home, which includes clean air, no mold, and efficiency. Preventative maintenance is a good way to ensure your home provides a healthy living environment for you and your family. Just like we take care of our teeth (brushing, flossing, mouthwash, dentist visits, etc) we should care for our home on a scheduled basis.

Changing air conditioning filters is an easy maintenance process yet it is one of the most overlooked items in the house. Forgetting to change out filters causes your coils to get dirty faster and of course, causes your family to breathe dirty air. Filters are meant to catch allergens and other items in the air that we don’t want to take in. It also helps maintain your air conditioner and keeps it running efficiently.

Clean your ceiling fans. The last thing one needs it to have ceiling fans with inches of dust on them, don’t wait till you sell your home, you don’t want you REALTOR® or a potential buyer to be the one to tell you this needs to be done. You can expand the life of your fan by keeping them clean and ensuring the motor is free of dust.

Toilets often need to have the internal flap replaced (the part that lifts when you flush so that clean water can go into the toilet). This is extremely inexpensive and you don’t need a plumber to do this. Using bleach tablets in the tank reservoir to help “clean” the tank often cause these plastic flaps to erode, which causes the need for replacement. You will know when it’s time to replace this because the toilet will continue to run since the tank will never fill because of a bad flap.

Caulking around sinks and bath tubs is one of the most inexpensive maintenance items one can encounter; but if left undone, may cause severe water damage. Take the time to re-caulk around sink and bathtubs to prevent water penetration and keep those areas looking nice and clean.

If you live in an older home, consult an electrician to ensure your home is to code. Many older homes were built according to codes that were in effect at that time; many are unacceptable due to fire hazards. Don’t put your loved ones at risk; the expense is less emotional than the loss of a loved one.

Check your gutters often, especially if you have trees since you may end up with lots of debris. Check your roof for damaged shingles and chimney trim and ensure nails heads are sealed and trim is caulked to prevent water penetration.

Take care of your home and your home will take care of you.

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