Owning a home is a big responsibility that comes with a lot of maintenance. Keeping up with and remembering all of the maintenance that needs to be done can be quite a daunting task, especially if you are a fist-time home owner. For example, how often is it really necessary to have your heating and cooling systems serviced? Is it ever okay to let things go unmaintained until there is a problem? Fear not: here is what you need to know about keeping your home in tip-top shape.
Why Do I Need to Stay on Top of Maintenance?
It is very easy to fall into the school of thought that there is no real reason to have all the systems in your home serviced on a regular basis, but that would be a big mistake. Regular maintenance will save you a lot of money in the long run, explains Life Hacker. It may sound like an oxymoron, because you will have to spend money to have repair workers come out to evaluate and service the various systems in your home, but over time, proactive care will cost less than a complete system failure.
Think of it this way: when it comes to your health what costs more: paying copays to visit the doctor annually for your physical, or not ever seeing the doctor until you find out you have a progressive illness that could have been treated if you had caught it sooner? The systems in your home work the same way. Many things can be fixed if found early on and that will save you from having to replace an air conditioning unit or heating system long before their time is up.
The Little Things
There are many aspects to home maintenance that will not require you to call in the experts, but will simply call for a weekend of your own time and maybe a trip to the local hardware store. The best thing to do is grab a pen and paper and take a walk around your home. What are the small things that need to be fixed? Are there loose screws that need to be tightened or outlet plates that need replacing? Write it all down and then number the list in order of importance. Then, every weekend you can tackle a few items on your list. Once a month, take another walk and add to the list again, or simply add things as you notice them.
The Big Things
Of course, then there are the big things that you need to be doing, but luckily they do not need to be done that often. The best way to stay on top of everything is to have a list tracking when everything needs to be attended to, and Apartment Therapy has it all planned out for you. Things such as cleaning out the dishwasher drain bin or the washing machine detergent bins should be done pretty regularly (at least monthly), whereas changing air filters for your heating and cooling systems can be limited to every six months.
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