Your Handy Guide on Home Maintenance

Imagine this: a bright Sunday afternoon with the summer breeze blowing, the colors in full play as the birds’ chirp… and amidst all of this, you are standing on the ladder to fix the porch light, or cleaning up the main sewage line.

Truth be told, if given this option, only a few of us would volunteer to spend our time- off to invest ourselves in daunting chores related to the maintenance of our homes.

Buying a house is undoubtedly a huge financial responsibility, since it is your biggest investment, as is renting a place. However, shouldn’t maintaining your home be a priority?

Like the seasons’ change, as colors come to life in spring or tone down in winters, the temperature soars in summers or everything fades in a warm Pantone in autumn, operating the maintenance of the house should be carried all year round.

As intimidating as it may sound, let’s take ownership to input the time and labor required to maintain your house, both visually and ‘mechanically’, because when people rent or buy a property, one always looks if the place is clean, well-designed, and well-maintained – inside and out.

Here is a handy Home Maintenance guide to help you keep your maintenance record in check. Grab a notepad and pen, make notes to plan and evaluate your ‘seasonal’ moves, and let’s get down to business.

 

Tip #1: Keep the Outdoors Green:

The first impression always counts…

It may not be considered as a priority, but maintaining the outdoors is essential as it’s the first thing that anyone who enters the house sees. Garden care is an intimidating and time-consuming job if not done routinely, so for starters lawn cleanup is recommended.

Make the lawnmower your best friend (pro-tip: great laborious exercise) to shape up your lawns. Rake up scattered leaves, reseed the flowerbeds and trim the hedges along with filling bald patches in this summer heat. Set out the planters of your choice (go overboard if you wish) but remember to give them plenty of water.

Keep checking the growth to know when your planters, lawn, and other seeds will be ready for fertilization.

With the summer season burning it up, remember to inspect the exteriors for damaged wood or pest infestation, as summers are the playground for the bugs and insects to crawl out of every possible hole. So, it may be time to get rid of them.

 

Tip #2: Maintain the Exteriors:

With higher temperatures and lower levels of precipitation, summer makes working conditions intensive but equally rewarding.

A walk outside the house would help you take account of the cracks in the concrete, conditions of the driveway, lighting fixtures required or bulbs to be changed, with proper cleaning of the house from the outside like the doors, window sills, and gates. Ensure that the paint is intact when it comes to the gate, walls, and fences.

Setting up a bunch of garden chairs in the garden or the patio isn’t a bad idea. You’ll need to build a little outdoor sanctuary to sit and absorb the goodness as you feel alive in the summer breeze or witness the monsoon season set the skies on fire.

For the monsoon season hitting right up, checking, cleaning and maintaining the sewage system is a must. As the gutters control the flow of rainwater in your house, protecting your roof, side lanes and grounds are essential. Clogged gutters can cause a roof to leak or water to infiltrate into your house. So with scheduled checks on the roof and gutters to avoid water blockages and pooling, it is recommended to also take checks for significant cracks or signs that may cause a headache.

 

Tip #3: Upgrade the Interior:

Be it to enjoy a breezy evening, or listening to the rainfall, throwing open the windows is possibly the quickest trick to benefit the most from. Nowadays, with the monsoon season thundering up summertime, most of us are eager to hang inside our homes.

What better time to give your home, a good inside-out do-over?

First thing’s first, taking care of improper wiring should top your list, as it is the most common defect. Take measures to ensure proper electrical wiring to get sufficient electricity supply, adequate overload protection and get rid of the dangerous wiring connections.

Move on to taking care of the overall maintenance of cracked, peeling and dirty surfaces that need proper filling and painting, crumbling masonry, makeshift wiring and plumbing, and broken fixtures and appliances which are a major let down. Repair walls and ceilings of nail holes and minor dents as they sabotage the overall vibe of your homes.

With the rain continuously pouring down, discoloration is often experienced because of water pooling and blockage that damages walls. Make sure to take note of these problems and have them repaired.

The next step is to repaint the walls as it the cheapest and easiest ways to refresh a room and to uplift the entire look. You may decorate your rooms however you wish to.

Whether to spice up your flooring using carpets or rocking tiles or wooden flooring, the decision is completely yours. Ensuring everything to be in good condition is the goal one should be achieving. It may also include replacing any chipped floor tiles or upgrading the hardwood maintenance. For a brand new look, replace any torn carpeting and rugs or have them cleaned.

Equally important are issues related to heating systems, plumbing and overcoming poor ventilation. Make sure to deal with issues related to broken or malfunctioning operation controls, and blocked chimneys/ airways, as the exhaust disposal may become unsafe. It is fundamental that should not be taken lightly.

Being the topmost issue to be faced, plumbing defects rank high among the house problems which are encountered on an almost daily basis. It includes the existence of old and incompatible piping materials, as well as faulty fixtures and faucets.  Due to the negligence often practiced by homeowners to save energy, many don’t even realize that they may have over-sealed their homes, resulting in excessive interior moisture. This is the sole cause of rotting and premature failure of both structural and non-structural elements.

Your home is your investment. These were some tips and trick to help your investment be profitable. Regular Home Maintenance, getting dirty while cleaning, or taking help from the pros is what is needed to help keep your investment strong. Get to know small studio apartment design

For more on keeping your property in top shape, keeping visiting Graana Blog.