9 Home Maintenance Tips For Your New Home

Becoming a homeowner is a feeling unlike anything else and you’ve probably experienced the honeymoon phase with your new home.  Although very rewarding, homeownership comes with property maintenance which is an integral part of retaining your new properties value.

As we’ve said before, preventative maintenance is working smarter, reactive maintenance is working harder.  To help you in that direction, we’ve come up with some home maintenance tips to get you started on your journey through homeownership!

Get a thorough inspection prior to purchase from a licensed home inspector.

The best defense against bank breaking repairs is hiring a licensed home inspector to provide an unbiased evaluation of the homes current state.  It’s important to account for the age of the home and the wear and tear to determine how extensive of an inspection you may need.  With this information you can budget properly for your future.

Have your home inspected semi-regularly.

Waiting to have your home inspected right before you put your home on the market is like trying to bake something without all the right ingredients.  You’ll have to start over, go back to fix it and it can become a huge mess.  

Having your home inspected every few years helps you to stay on top of routine maintenance or repairs.  Professional home inspectors have equipment and specific skills to see imperfections and deficiencies in a home that may be missed by the untrained eye.  It’s also helpful being ahead of the game and hiring a professional home inspector to evaluate your property before you list it to sell.  This provides you with the opportunity to handle those repairs so that the buyers will be less likely to back out in the end.

Trim back surrounding trees.

Although it may sound a little daunting, this is super helpful for home maintenance.  Trimming back any branches that come into contact with the roof or gutters will keep it clean and deter pests and rodents from infesting your home.

Don’t defer maintenance.

Deferred maintenance can catch you by surprise even if you haven’t been ignoring needed repairs. Purchasing a property with lurking, undisclosed deferred maintenance puts future savings at high risk.

Value your property the same way you value your health.  When we visit the doctor, we proactively address potential problems down the road, which otherwise might cost us in medical bills, time and our foreseen future.

Same goes for your home.

Maintain your roof.

Stay on top of your roof, literally!  Once water penetrates even the smallest crack it can turn into a huge problem.  Check your roof monthly and after any significant storms or weather patterns.  Look for the small granules or pebbles, once they start to disappear the shingles become weaker.  Look for missing or damaged shingles and vents.  Make sure your water tight to protect, quite literally everything below the roof!

Caulk it… Caulk it good.

Damaged caulking can lead to leaking water and/or air which can cause mildew or mold and other structural problems.  Maintain your caulk on components such as windows, doors, bath tubs and all sinks as well as countertops.

Dust it… Dust it good.

Ewww … Committing to regular dusting sounds like no fun!  It’s unfortunately everywhere and is going nowhere unless we do something about it.  Dust build up can also dramatically shorten the lifespan of appliances like your fridge or washer and dryers.  Keep up on dusting and filter replacement and you and your family will stay healthy and reduce the risk of fire in your home.

Maintain the water heater.

It’s a simple task yet one of the most forgotten.  Drain and flush your water heater on a yearly basis.  This will extend the life of your water heater by preventing sediment build up which clogs up your heater and causes issues in the future.

Set the clock for regular maintenance reminders.

Reminders and calendars are life, aren’t they?  It’s so helpful to set monthly, quarterly and yearly reminders for your home maintenance task list.

You can also subscribe to Rogue Inspection Services and we’ll send you monthly maintenance reminders for monthly tasks and seasonal tasks.  Taking care of repairs and preventative maintenance will save you time, money and peace of mind for your future and investment.