As a homeowner, it is important to complete preventative home maintenance on a regular schedule. Home maintenance is necessary because it ensures potential problems are identified before they become costly repairs. Not every issue will be caught ahead of time, here are a few common examples of home maintenance issues that could be problematic.
The Leaking Roof
One of the most common home maintenance issues is a roof that starts to leak. A leaking roof can be costly because, if the leak becomes a steady flow, you may need to replace personal property in addition to fixing the overarching issue. It is critical to perform a home inspection to make sure the roof is in a state of good repair during the buying process. While living in your home, the roof should be inspected regularly to look for problems with shingles, tiles and gutters. This ensures that the roof can withstand the routine wear and tear of adverse weather.
A Ruptured Pipe
Ruptured pipes are often a source of home plumbing and maintenance issues. Pipes tend to rupture during the winter when the temperature is especially cold. Sometimes, water and ice expand upon freezing to the point that the pipe breaks. Then, when the water is turned on, it flows out of the pipe and floods the house. To prevent this from happening, turn the ambient temperature up slightly even when you aren't at home. This will often prevent the water from freezing. Additionally, allowing the faucet to drip during particularly chilly nights keeps the water flowing, making it is less likely to freeze in the pipes.
A Broken HVAC Unit
Most homeowners dread having to replace the HVAC unit; however, routine maintenance will ensure you get as much use out of your HVAC unit as possible. If you hear rattling in the HVAC unit, or when their heat starts to disappear, this is a bad sign. To ensure HVAC units last as long as possible, make sure to replace the filters on time. This will go a long way toward making them last.
Not Sticking to Home Maintenance Schedules
Lastly, the biggest problem many homeowners have with home maintenance is that they simply don't do it. There is a common saying that you shouldn't fix what isn't broken but avoiding regular home maintenance will likely lead to larger repair bills down the road. Follow the advice of the maintenance schedule and make sure the home is taken care of.
About the Author
Sandy Malbrue
Hi, I'm Sandy Malbrue and I'd love to assist you. Whether you're in the research phase at the beginning of your real estate search for representation or you know exactly what you're looking for, you'll benefit from having a real estate professional by your side. I'd be honored to put my 14 years real estate experience to work for you. Be it to gain wide exposure for your home with my marketing plan, negotiate offers or manage the transaction once you've accepted an offer, in a way that will get you the best price and cause the least amount of disruption to you life as possible.
If you are a buyer, allow me put those skills to work for you to help with the pre-approval process, work with you to locate and arrange for you to view homes of interest to you , and negotiate your offer. Once you have an accepted offer, I will help you arrange inspections, I will manage the transaction for you, from helping to arrange for inspections to keeping you up to date on contingency removals and walking you through the process to a new set of keys.
Let's do this!