If you’re a homeowner, you may have a list of priorities for the maintenance schedule. And you may have noticed that certain areas in your residence inevitably turn up at the top of this list.
The are almost always the roof, the general state of your yard, your plumbing system, and your door and window seals. These are the big four. And if you let any of them start to slide, you could end up with consequences that are awfully expensive or make you look bad.
If all of these four items are in good repair, then you should be okay regarding the standard of living inside. But if any of these get out of control, that’s when you’re going to start raising eyebrows or facing damage that balloons in cost.
The Roof
What is your home without a roof? If there are leaks, bad shingles, lousy structure, insects in the woodwork, mold, dirt … all of those things can cause significant issues that lead to damage inside your home.
They could even make you sick in the case of fungus or temperature extremes. If there’s anything wrong with your roof, you might be able to do small repairs, but for bigger roof jobs, you almost always need to call the professionals — and the sooner, the better.
The Yard
It may feel as if it’s hard to keep up with your lawn. But the alternative is to let it get sloppy and feel discouraged when you come home after a long day at work.
Create a schedule to mow your lawn so it looks great on a regular basis. Every once in a while, do some edging around the sidewalks and driveway. Plant flowers if you need to. Trim bushes. Take care of trees.
It does take some effort to keep your yard looking decent. So you should make it a priority. Before you tackle smaller issues in your home, make sure you take care of the bigger, highly visible items outside.
The Plumbing
Water is going to be your lifeline in the family home. From hot water to do dishes and take showers and clean laundry, to all of your other water systems for sewer lines — any leak in your pipes can cause severe damage either slowly or quickly.
Check your water heater regularly for leaks. If you have wet areas in your home that start to smell bad, be sure to check for mold. You don’t necessarily have to do any plumbing yourself, but you do have to recognize when something is wrong for it to get repaired.
Door and Window Seals
If your doors and windows are not sealed adequately, hot and cold air go in and out as they will rather than how you would prefer them to. It’s not that hard a job to go around and seal all the cracks that so easily form around doors and windows.
Spend the $15 or $20 now, and you’ll save hundreds in heating and cooling bills and avoid a lot of potential discomfort later.