As a homeowner, taking care of your home before the new year is vital to ensuring it remains conducive and comfortable for easy living. Starting from the basement of your house, you need to ensure that everything is functional through regular servicing and replacement if need be.
The adverse seasonal and weather change effects throughout the year make it very important to check your in-house systems such as your drainage, wiring, as well as heating and cooling systems to schedule the necessary repair and maintenance arrangements.
A wet crawl space can affect a building’s structural integrity. Moisture in a crawl space that doesn’t have a way to evaporate will eventually cause wood rot. Wood rot will, over time, weaken structural elements and lead to settlement, sagging, and ultimately failure. So homeowners need to understand the causes of a wet crawl space and solutions.
While maintaining your house’s interior is necessary, a lot of people don’t realize the importance of maintaining the roof in keeping a house’s aesthetic intact. As a matter of fact, roofing repairs need to be on the top of your priorities as you draw your new year checklist.
Foundation cracks are a significant sign of structural failure, and if not taken care of – they can affect the home’s structural integrity. So the homeowners must understand the causes of foundation cracks, types, and the repair solutions.
A damaged or leaking roof will not pose a great risk to your household items and will make your house look worse for wear.
To make your home maintenance a lot less daunting, here’s a detailed checklist of what you should consider while doing home repairs.
What Is the State of Your Roof
Just like any other structure in your home, your roof will wear out and fall apart with time. However, you do not need to wait for your roof to collapse before doing something about it; hence the need for roof maintenance before the new year.
Depending on your home’s roofing material’s quality, it may require replacement after a few years or more. Among the things that will call for roof replacement include the presence of moss, an aged roof, or a leaking roof. Moss growing on your roof could indicate rotting and might require replacement.
Your roof may also wear out and pass more light than usual due to the roofing material’s thinning. If you notice a section of your roof is caving in, it could indicate damage to the surface or the structure underneath supporting the roof.
While a DIY approach could seem viable, to be sure your roof needs replacement, you should hire a professional, roofing contractors, to check it, who will in the process, uncover any other underlying issues.
A roofing contractor has experience and expertise beyond your skill level especially when it comes to complex tasks such as renovating a weakening structure beneath your roof.
Inspecting Your Heating Systems for Safety and Maintenance
If you have central heat and air, you need to schedule an appointment with your HVAC technician to inspect and service it before the turn of the year. A non-serviced system is usually less energy-efficient and poses various risks to the homeowner.
The technician should check for any damage, clean the system, and service your furnace and air conditioning. They should also check your thermostat to ensure it is working correctly, inspect the heating vents for any blockage, and clean them as well.
If you use steam heat, you should drain the boiler off any accumulated sediments. Your boiler is the system that holds and heats the water. You might also need to call a heating specialist to inspect your boiler who should check your radiators to ensure the valves are functional. A reputable company such as GJ Appliances can conduct a boiler repair and service to ensure your system is operating as it should.
Since home fires are relatively common, you may want to upgrade your heat system security by installing or updating your carbon monoxide and smoke alarm detectors. Therefore make a point to call a specialist to check your detectors and service them before the new year. You can also improve your alarm detectors by adding the voice feature to enhance their efficiency.
Check Your House for Plumbing Needs
Plumbing works in your home consist of the gutters and drainage pipes that aid in the flow of water. Gutters, for instance, protect the roof, walls, and foundation of your house by controlling the flow of rainwater.
If your gutters are clogged, they may cause leakage of rainwater to your home. To avoid this, it’s best to have them checked for damage and cleaning. If you choose to clean them yourself, ensure you are careful with the ladder to prevent injuries.
With the adverse weather changes throughout the year, your pipes’ durability, especially the exterior pipes, will likely be affected. For this reason, inspect all your drainage pipes for any leakage signs.
You should also check the status of the insulation covering the exterior pipes and ensure there is no water seepage under the insulation.
Other plumbing issues that you should check include your sump pump and flapper. You should check the sump pump to ensure it is draining properly to prevent flooding during the year’s rainy season.
The flapper in your toilet tank should also be functional to prevent water wastage caused by continuous running in the toilet. Try and fix the problems you detect, but if you’re not up to the task, consider hiring a plumber to do the fixes where the issues are too technical.
More General Things You Should Have on Your Checklist
Other things you might need to check in your home before the new year include your chimneys, doors, and general space. While you may not use your chimney throughout the year due to the difference in seasons, it still needs a check and clean every year. You need to remove the soot and sediments that accumulate over time which could affect your house’s quality of air.
You also need to inspect your house to identify and correct minor problems such as tightening loose knobs and hinges on your cabinets and doors, lubricating the squeaky doors, and repairing or replacing damaged furniture.
You can also give your house a fresh lick of paint or do a touch up to maintain its appearance. If necessary, hire a professional to do the painting for you for more professional finishing. You may also need to declutter your space as a maintenance practice by throwing out old files and manuals and replacing them with new and stylish designs.
Always Conduct Home Maintenance At Least Once a Year
It is important to note that starting the year positively and productively requires a plan. In the form of the above checklist, this plan is necessary as it might to some extent dictate how your year will be.
While implementing the above checklist, you can reduce costs by doing the minor repairs on your own and consulting a specialist only where the repairs are beyond your skill level.
