Buying a home is a big deal for a lot of people, and so is fixing up a newly acquired home. But once they settle in and get comfortable, many people tend to forget about keeping their home repairs up to date. The importance of home maintenance should be remembered, because it helps keep you safe, and helps your home last longer.
Home emergencies, such as burst pipes and electrical outages, can be devastating, expensive, and upsetting. But with proper home maintenance and preparation, you can avoid some of these issues, or be better prepared to handle them when they arise.
Of course, many people like to start with simple house cleaning. This is important for keeping everything looking nice, and can help extend the lifetime of certain features of your house. The importance of home maintenance, though, goes much deeper than that.
There are a lot of things to think about when staying up to date with home maintenance, preparation, and repairs, and they are easily forgotten about. But here are some aspects of home maintenance that you don’t want to forget about, so you can remember to keep your home running smoothly.
The roof
Roof maintenance might be one of the most important things to consider and to get consistent maintenance on. It is recommended to get two annual inspections, usually after winter and summer. These seasons are the hardest on your roof, so it needs the most work then.
What kind of work you need depends on your specific roof, how old it is, and the weather conditions it is exposed to. This is where consulting professionals can help. You can get an inspection of your roof, to see if it needs work.
If your work does need repairs, many different services can help you do that. For a metal roof, you can call your local metal roofers. For wooden roofs, you want a different type of specialist. Whatever roof you have, there is someone who can help you maintain it.
The importance of home maintenance is very visible in roofs. A poorly maintained roof may have water leaks or let air escape the home. They can also, over time, increase the risk of your roof collapsing due to weather events. So it’s important to keep your roof properly maintained, to keep you and your home safe.
The siding
While you’re checking up on the outside of your house, make sure to check the siding. This helps to keep the insulation of your home sealed. Most importantly, it is also a part of your home’s curb appeal, so you want to keep it looking good.
If you have siding that is damaged or otherwise degraded, like being covered in mold, hiring a siding service can help. They can fix it right up, and get the side of your house looking good as new. Catching potential issues early can also help prevent further issues to your home.
Gardening
If you have a garden outside your home, it can be easy to forget about. But the importance of home maintenance includes keeping your garden healthy.
Forgetting about a garden can lead to plants dying, and potential issues the next time you try to plant, such as infertile soil or pests that can harm your plants. So remember to constantly check on your garden, even in the offseason. Make sure that any plants there are being taken care of, and keep an eye out for signs of pests.
When you go to start your garden again, make sure the soil is fertile and good for growing. You might want to replace it or mix in some new soil, fertilizer, or compost. And you can also hire something like bark dust blowing services to help you improve your soil.
Trees
Maintaining the trees in your yard is vital to keeping your home safe, which is part of the importance of home maintenance. During storms, tree branches or even whole trees can fall, leading to damage to your house. So keep your trees trimmed, and get rid of any that may be dangerous.
This means keeping tree branches away from the area above your roof. If any trees are leaning towards your home, you may want to have them removed, so they don’t fall into it. And if you have rotting or dying trees, removing them early
will prevent them from collapsing later.
Of course, this can be a big job. You can always hire professional tree trimmers to help you keep your trees in check. And remember to keep an eye on tree roots as well— you don’t want them damaging the foundation of your home.
Grass
While you’re working on the outside of your home, the grass is a big part of the importance of home maintenance. It helps keep your yard looking nice, and provides a place for dogs, kids, and adults to walk and play.
Maintaining your grass could be really easy, or it may be challenging. It depends on where you live, the environmental conditions, and what type of grass you have. For some people, hiring professionals to do the job can really help.
There are many methods of maintaining a good yard, and a professional can tell you which one will be best for you. Hydrograss can be a good option for many people, but there are also many other types of grass and maintenance out there.
Doors
Starting to move inside the house, you’re going to want to take a look at your doors. These obviously get used a lot, so it is important to keep them in good shape.
Of course, you want them to open and close smoothly. A door that squeaks can be annoying, but a door that gets stuck could cause actual problems. So make sure to keep the hinges oiled, and if your door gets stuck often, hire a professional to see what could be wrong with it.
The other thing to think about with doors is insulation. When they’re closed, you want them to create a good seal, so the air in your house stays in your house. If the door lets drafts through, it means that air could escape your house, which will greatly increase your heating and AC bill.
This doesn’t mean just your front and back door, either. Garage doors are also part of the importance of home maintenance. And since these doors are bigger and usually run on machinery, they could have more problems.
First, make sure the door can open and close easily. This is especially important in the winter months, as the cold can be rough on your garage door. If it doesn’t move easily, there could be a problem with your spring, in which case you would need garage door spring repair.
Also make sure that your garage door is sturdy and well sealed, to help lessen the amount of air that will escape when closed. Of course, this isn’t entirely avoidable, so the door leading from your garage into your house can also help with this.
Plumbing
Your entire house runs on your plumbing system. Without running water, you can’t wash dishes, flush the toilet, or take showers. So it’s important to make sure that your plumbing system stays well taken care of.
This usually means getting an annual inspection done, to see if there are any issues. Just because your plumbing is working smoothly now doesn’t mean it’s perfectly healthy. And repairing issues early can prevent further damage down the line.
It’s probably a good idea to get your plumbing system inspected before winter, and after it. That’s because winter’s cold temperatures can be hard on pipes. So check it before to prevent issues during the winter, and check it after to make sure there’s no new damage.
Electricity
Much like plumbing, your home runs on electricity. This should make you realize the importance of home maintenance. Not only can wiring problems mean no electricity, but they can also cause fires or other issues.
So you might want to have someone inspect your wiring. At the very least, run a test to make sure that every system is working properly. And if there are any issues, get them fixed as soon as possible. This will help prevent disasters and further damage.
The basement
Sometimes your basement needs to be redone. Maybe you don’t like the way it looks, or it isn’t insulated properly, or the
foundation is decaying and needs to be strengthened. Whatever the case, you should find a company that specializes in basement remodels to help you.
If you’re just remodeling it because you want to, then you can have fun with it. But if there’s an issue, such as water damage or cracks in the foundation, it’s important to find the source of the problem, and make sure no other part of the house has been damaged. If you have water damage from a burst pipe, it’s possible that other parts of the plumbing system need repair too. So when redoing your basement, think about these things as well.
Bathrooms
Although we don’t like them, we spend a lot of our time in bathrooms. So the ones in our home should be comfortable and running well. After all, the importance of home maintenance is making sure that everything works the way it should.
Periodically, check up on your bathrooms. Make sure the plumbing all works right, and the lights are ok. Check the walls for signs of water damage, and make sure everything stays clean, especially the drains.
Keeping your bathrooms well-maintained will help you live a much happier life. And if you don’t like your bathroom, then a little home remodeling could be fun as well.
Kitchens
This is another area of your home you likely use a lot. It needs to be kept clean since you’ll be handling food. But it also needs to be properly maintained.
Check that all of the appliances work the way they should. Make sure the sink drain stays clean, and that there are no problems with the pipes for things like the dishwasher. If you have damaged counters or cabinets, it’s a good idea to replace them.
You can also make upgrades if your family needs it. You could install more cabinets, or build more counter space. Or maybe you want another microwave. Whatever it is, make sure that your kitchen is clean and runs smoothly.
Safety
Safety in your home is always important. After all, that’s where we are supposed to be safest, and it’s a big part of the importance of home maintenance. So when you’re checking other areas of your home, make sure to review the safety measures as well.
The most common things for this are smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. Make sure that these are working, and that the batteries aren’t dead. And they should be loud enough to wake the whole family if need be.
Some people might also want to have sprinklers in their homes in case of fire. For something like that, it needs to be done well, so hiring fire sprinkler contractors is probably your best bet. This provides you another level of protection against fire.
You should also have a safety plan, so in case of emergency, everyone in the family knows what to do. This means planning escape routes, as well as a place to meet up away from danger. It might be helpful to draw out diagrams, and to practice just in case of emergency.
A well-maintained home
Hopefully, you now realize the importance of home maintenance. From gardening and tree-trimming to roofing and plumbing, there are a lot of areas of your home that may need constant maintenance. It may seem like a lot of work, but you can always hire others to help you, and it will be for the better.
Proper home maintenance will make your home a much safer place to live. It will also help you be more comfortable, and save you money because it helps prevent costly disasters from happening. So remember to check up on these areas occasionally, and give your home the care it needs.
