Preventative maintenance is essential when owning a home if you desire to preserve your assets and ensure that your home maintains its value. But let’s be honest—owning a home can be tons of work! Here’s a checklist of things you need to do to ensure that you’re keeping your home in its best possible condition:
Fix things as they break
It takes much more effort and money to wait until things around the house are falling apart or nonfunctional until you replace them. Go throughout your house one to two times a year and make a list of things that need to be repaired or updated. Don’t overwhelm yourself—take on one item a month and your house will be well-maintained.
Clean the gutters
It’s easy to forget this, but cleaning your gutters may prevent damage to your roof or to the interior and/or exterior of your home.
Maintain the landscaping
When someone pulls into your driveway your yard is the first thing they see! Ensure that you’re taking care of the lawn, bushes, flower beds, etc. or else this could become a mundane and costly project.
Stain your porch or deck
Staining a porch can be laborious, but it’s better than having to replace a porch due to mildew or rotting wood which could cost tens of thousands of dollars. Every two to three years make this a part of your spring cleaning checklist.
Weather-proof your doors
Protecting the inside of your home from the elements will prevent flooding, water damage, and even keep the cost of your power bill down.
Service your heating and air conditioning unit
Speaking of heating and air, have you ever had to replace your heating and air system? This is a major expense that can be prolonged if you simply maintain your system by having it serviced once a year. The cost of having your equipment serviced will be much less than a replacement.