Managing Home Maintenance Costs

Every home needs home maintenance from time to time regardless of where you live and the size of your home. Completing this home maintenance work can mean the difference between spending a few dollars vs. major repairs. Because you just did not address these issues fast enough.

This post was really originated by something that I observed that my neighbor is not doing. I have mentioned it to him several times. However he either forgets, ignores what I am suggesting or just does not care. I know that he does not like to do maintenance around the home. He will likely pay for it sometime in the future.

He spent several thousand dollars having his front yard landscaped. It looks great and he had the landscapers install shrubs and flowers in his gardens as well. The landscapers installed an underground drain from his down pipe from the eaves trough into the lawn. There is a reservoir under the lawn. There is also an overflow tap that pops up in a situation where there is a heavy rainfall.

Fall Maintenance

In the fall you remove the down pipe from this underground pipe. Redirect the water out over the garden towards the lawn. We get very cold weather. This prevents a lot of ice buildup around his foundation in the winter time and helps dissipate the water away from his foundation.

In the spring you are supposed to reattach the eaves trough to the underground pipe. The water will once again flow underground out onto the lawn. He has done neither of these things. Now the water just flows down the drain pipe onto the ground beside his foundation. This water has no where really to run so it filters down along the foundation and the weeping tile take this water away.

I am concerned that eventually the weeping tile will eventually become plugged or the water around the foundation will freeze and cause the foundation to crack sometime in the winter. His basement is finished and I am worried that this potential leak in the future will cause a lot of damage to his basement. This is one example of something that only takes a few minutes to correct which could prevent a larger maintenance issue for my neighbor sometime in the future.

Routine House Maintenance

There are many other things that are routine and should be completed every year during specific seasons. Cleaning the eaves trough of any debris that has built up will allow the water to drain away properly from the roof and prevent back leaks into the house. Changing the filter on your furnace is another that will provide you with clean air.

Painting your windows on a regular basis will also help to prevent them from flaking and the wood rotting. Many of my neighbors have spent thousands of dollars replacing their windows because they were beginning to leak due to the seals giving way. A little paint would have prevented having to spend thousands of dollars replacing all of these windows.

Changing the oil on your lawn mower and your snow blower annually is another example which would make sure that these engines last a long time. Lubricating various items on these machines following the manual is another great thing to do to keep them running well.

Updating Your Roof

Another big item is replacing the shingles on your roof. Once they are over 15 years old watch for missing shingles or the ends of the shingles beginning to roll up. This is a sure sign of a problem waiting to happen. In both cases leaks can develop which can ruin the insulation underneath as well as ruin paint on walls and even your floors if it is bad enough. Any roof that has standing water on it is a potential problem waiting to happen.

Same goes for standing water around your foundation or on your lawn. If you have this situation make sure that you fill in the depression in such a manner that it drains away properly. This is easy to do and just part of the general maintenance activities that are needed around a home. Most people do not like mowing the lawn, or placing fertilizer on the lawn or grass seed on the lawn to thicken it up. A strong healthy thick lawn fights off weeds and looks healthy, while a lawn that is not doing well, has thin places etc is a perfect magnet for weeds. Keep it healthy to have a great weed free lawn.

Our site has a variety of posts about various tasks that should be followed that will cost little but can save you thousands of dollars in repairs.

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