While owning a home is a privilege, it’s no secret that keeping your home in its proper shape is also a responsibility. Just like how we take care of our bodies, houses also need regular checkups and maintenance to prevent serious damage.
Conducting the necessary maintenance tasks reduces the cost of repairs and ensures that your home is safe for you and your family to live in. This article will help you make a checklist of the things you need to do in upkeeping your home.
Annual
Aside from the daily chores of maintaining your home, you also need to conduct an annual checkup and tuning up. These tasks often run smoothly, but it’s still important to ensure that areas of your home didn’t incur any damages. Below are some of the maintenance tasks you need to do annually.
Furnace Tune-Up
A few months before the winter season is the best time for a furnace tune-up, and this must be done every year at around the same time. The winter can be harsh for everyone, especially if you have a malfunctioning heating system. Whether you live in a residential or commercial building, ensuring your furnace is running properly is essential in keeping your home warm during the cold season.
Remove Ice Dams
Once the winter is over, make sure that you conduct a maintenance check on your roof and remove any ice dams that might have been left. Ice dams will eventually melt, and the water that comes from this can work its way to the shingles and into your home’s walls. This leads to various structural damages that may compromise the integrity of your home. In some cases, roofs had to be replaced entirely, and that can cost around $8,000. Removing ice dams and letting them melt on the pavement instead is essential in avoiding leakages.
Gutter Cleaning
Another important thing you need to take note of is the regular checkup of your gutters. Ensuring that rainwater flows freely and properly along your drainage system is important in avoiding costly repairs on your roof. Gutter maintenance only requires you to remove leaves and debris that can clog the rainwater’s path— a small price to pay for an otherwise expensive renovation.
Dehumidifying Your Home
Moisture in the air can cause mold buildup, resulting in a foul odor or weakening posts and walls. It’s important to keep your home’s humidity around 30 to 50 percent to prevent this from happening. Reducing humidity used to be done in a single room only. Still, nowadays, we have lots of whole-house dehumidifiers that can significantly lower the air’s moisture levels inside your entire home.
Seasonal
Besides the annual maintenance tasks, you also need to ensure that your house is prepared for every season. You need to do lots of things each season, and below are some of the best precautionary measures you need to take.
Fall
During the fall season, you need to prepare for winter. Ensuring that your sprinklers and outdoor faucets are drained of water is essential to prevent pipes from bursting. Check your roof for damages and remove any debris in the gutter and shingles. If you have a garden, make sure that you take them in, especially the ones that can’t withstand cold temperatures. Drain your swimming pool and any equipment that uses gasoline.
Winter
You still need to make sure that everything is in proper order during the winter. Check for downspouts or any leakages in your ceiling, walls, and basement. Ensure that all your electrical appliances are plugged in correctly, and keep the kitchen clean because you’ll be using this area frequently during the holidays. It’s also difficult to find home-repair services during the winter, so ensure that you know how to conduct basic troubleshooting to fix your indoor heating system and other equipment.
Spring
The best time to check for any damages that might have been caused by winter is when spring comes. Check your roof, garden, and walkways for any damages and call for professional help to fix anything that’s broken. Spring is also the best time to ensure that your air-conditioning system is properly working to prepare for the next season.
Summer
When summer comes, you may have lots of plants lined up. Ensuring that your house is free of any structural damage that may worsen while you’re away is very important. Conduct a thorough inspection of the trees near your home and hire an arborist to cut dead branches that may fall on your home while you’re away.
It may seem like the maintenance tasks you need to conduct on your home is never-ending, but all of these are important in keeping your home and family safe. Reducing the danger that your home presents and preparing for the seasons to come are necessary for home maintenance.
