Home Maintenance 101

As time goes by our homes need more care from us. That is why we need to routinely go through home maintenance checklists to make sure we are keeping our homes in shape.

Here we break down some easy home maintenance tasks that anyone can do along with a few that you may want to contract out.

Take note by keeping up with various home maintenance tasks you will find your home in top shape and health.

7 easy home maintenance tasks that you can be doing right now on your own:

1. Fix or replace any loose boards on your fence or porch (if you have one).

2. Clean the grill after each use making it easy to store it away for the winter

3. Check the weather stripping around windows and doors for any tears, breakage and replace soon.

4. Clean your dryer vent.

5. With rain comes grass and weeds – mow or weed eat around the home to remove any of it away from the house.

6. Change out your filters for the AC.

7. Test your fire and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms and consider replacing batteries with fresh ones.

These are easy, quick and inexpensive to do, and typically you can accomplish all of these in a few hours.

However, there are a few fall chores where you’ll probably want to call someone local to assist:

1. Power wash your fence, home and/or deck as another added prevention of mold and mildew growth due to rain and moisture. If it needs a protective coating before winter, now’s the time to do it.

2. Heat pump checkup – just like the AC needs an annual checkup, so does your furnace. Now’s the time to call your HVAC contractor to give it a pre-winter inspection before the cold weather comes in.

3. Roof repairs – If you notice any missing or damaged shingles, it’s time to have someone come and fix/replace before any rain and snow arrive.

4. Check your crawl space or basement for leaks and buildup of moisture

With summer coming to end here in a few weeks, take a weekend and walk around your home look it over and take care of making your home strong and healthy. If you find that there are some tasks you can’t do, ask a neighbor, friend, or family member if they have a local handyman they use and trust to work on their home.