Critical Elements of Your Home That Need Maintenance

There are several critical elements of your home that need to be maintained. You should maintain your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, foundation, plumbing, roofing, vents and filters, air drafts, fireplace, and windows. Keeping each of these maintained will help you to keep up with your house and save money.

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms

Your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in your home need to be tested and the batteries should be changed every six months. Working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are extremely important and are there for your protection. It’s dangerous to live in a home with smoke and carbon monoxide alarms that aren’t working. You may go to sleep one day and wake up in a very dangerous situation. One way to remember to change your batteries and get them tested is to make it a habit to do it when you change your clocks during daylight savings time. This way you’ll keep the alarms maintained and keep yourself and your family safe.

Foundation

There are several common foundation issues that you’ll need to keep an eye on and make sure you don’t have any foundation problems. For example, you’ll need to look for cracks in the walls, floors, and ceilings. This can be difficult because if you can’t see one, it doesn’t mean there isn’t one. There are a few things you can do to prevent foundational issues. You can make sure to drain water away from your house, maintain moisture levels, and embed your foundation. Maintaining

Plumbing

Taking care of your home’s plumbing system is essential to keeping the clean water flowing in and flushing your home’s waste out. There are many people who don’t think about their plumbing until a problem comes up. This can be an expensive way to live, so you might consider just keeping up with the maintenance of your home’s plumbing. You’ll need to clear clogs, be careful of what you put in your disposal, look for any leaks, disconnect hoses in the winter, and watch for pipes freezing. If you keep up with the plumbing maintenance, you can avoid a lot of heartache in the future when you’re faced with fixing a major problem.

Roofing

Roofing is definitely a critical element in your home that needs your attention. You should look for signs it’s time to replace your roof. You should keep an eye out for leaks and avoid ice dams in the winter. Trapped snow can melt and allow water to infiltrate the roof. Leaks are also a common occurrence. You can inspect your roof yearly and if you find an issue you can get in contact with a contractor to fix any problems, so it never happens again. Your shingles can also be damaged and lead to leaks. If you are inspecting your roof, make sure you are careful. You can use binoculars to avoid actually getting on the roof. There are many accidents every year involving ladders and roofing issues, so be careful when you’re inspecting your roof.

Vents and Filters

You will need to make sure you’re cleaning out all the vents and filters within your home. This will help you to avoid any issues and prevent fires. Cleaning the filters will only take 15 minutes or less and can save you money. You should check your dishwasher filter, HVAC system filter, and dryer vent to increase efficiency. It isn’t time consuming to remove the vent from the back of the dryer and vacuum the excess lint. This should be done each month.

Air Drafts

One thing that should be done in your home at least once is to check every room for air drafts. You can hire someone to come to your home and conduct an energy audit or there are a few things you can do yourself to check. For example, you can light an incense stick and watch if the smoke is pulled in one direction and out of the room. An energy audit or the incense method will tell you what part of your home is losing energy and therefore costing you money. If you have an energy audit, you’ll be able to fix the problem areas to lower your heating bill and make your home more energy efficient. Air leaks in your home can be an issue that you’re not even aware of and it’s a fairly easy fix.

Fireplace

The fireplace in your home needs yearly maintenance before you can use it each season. Chimney fires are more common than you might think. You’ll need to have some good fireplace and chimney cleaning. You should have a professional inspect your wood stove and wood burning fireplace chimney before you start the first fire of the season. This will help you to avoid any fires that could be dangerous to your life and would be costly to fix. Cleaning your fireplace each year is a critical part of your home maintenance.

Windows

Windows can be part of the house that is high maintenance. You’ll need to keep an eye on a lot of things when it comes to windows. You should clean window wells, check for air leaks in the windows, and fix window locks. You’ll also need to make time to clean them so your house looks nice and you can actually see out the window. You also should work on maintaining the window screens. You’ll need to keep them clean and repair or replace damaged window screens to avoid bugs. Maintaining your windows will help them to last longer and you’ll have a sense of accomplishment that you’ve taken good care of them.

There are many things to maintain in your home that you should put on your checklist. You should check on your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, foundation, plumbing, roofing, vents and filters, air drafts, fireplace, and windows. Proper maintenance of these things will give your home everything it needs to last for a long time and keep you safe.

Here’s another article you might find helpful: Home Issues That You Shouldn’t a Wait to Fix