Home maintenance projects can save you so much money in the long run. Today's guest post from Tony at texasrealestatesource.com outlines the best preventative home projects to maximize your budget.
A person's home is one of the most important emotional and financial investments they will make. Falling behind on home maintenance can lead to wildly expensive repairs later on, so it makes sense to keep up with these projects.
Whether a person plans to eventually sell the home, keep it, or leave it to a relative as an inheritance, routine maintenance tasks can preserve or even enhance the value of a home in the long-term. And one doesn't need to break the bank to do this type of upkeep.
Here are several money-saving home maintenance projects that will help protect this investment.
1. Shingle Replacement
A high-quality shingled roof can last up to 30 years if it is well cared for. Occasionally, one or two shingles might become damaged, curled, or simply lost in a windstorm. Homeowners should inspect their roof once or twice a year for defects. If a shingle needs to be replaced, a contractor can do it or the homeowner can follow these steps to do it themselves. Just remember to take safety precautions if you do it yourself.
1. Break the Shingles’ Seals. It's best to do a shingle replacement on a cooler day, because the sealant bond can be breached more easily with a prybar. This step also means pulling loose the nails holding the damaged shingle in place.
Also, since shingles are installed in an overlapping pattern, one or more shingles will overlap the damaged shingle. Their seals will also need to be broken too.
2. Pull the Nails. Once the proper seals are broken, the nails holding the damaged shingle in place can all be pried loose with a prybar. A shingle will usually have four nails holding it down. Gently pry each nail from underneath the damaged shingle. The nails holding down the adjacent shingle(s) will also need to be pulled, in order to fully remove the damaged one.
3. Remove the Damaged Shingle. Once its seal is broken and all the nails are removed, the damaged shingle should be easy to remove.
4. Replace the Shingle. Slide a new shingle into place and make sure it is aligned properly with the neighboring shingles. Nail the new shingle into place, and replace the nails that were removed from any adjacent shingles.
5. Reseal All the Affected Shingles. Use asphalt roof cement to seal beneath the tabs of the new shingle and the adjacent ones. This inexpensive treatment quickly seals the shingles back in place, and prevents them from getting blown off in a subsequent windstorm.
2. Roof Maintenance
There's more work to maintaining a roof than simply replacing the occasional shingle, as described above. Roofs should be inspected visually in the spring after winter storms have abated to see how well they have held up. Any major imperfections spotted should be repaired by a professional roofing contractor.
If a homeowner is confident enough to do it on their own, debris should be swept off the roof on a regular basis. Things like leaves or broken branches present an opportunity for pooling water and mold, which degrade the quality of a roof. If you live in a place that gets a lot of snow, like if you’ve bought a ski home, you’ll want to check for any damage caused by the weight of the snow.
Keep roof gutters clean as well, so that leaves and debris don't disrupt the water flow during a rainstorm. The gutters should be cleaned out twice a year. If they become clogged, they can damage the home's siding. In a worst-case scenario, clogged gutters can cause overflow, which can soak and degrade the soil around the home's foundation. Hosing out the roof's gutters a couple of times a year costs nothing; paying for repairs to the home's foundation can cost a lot!
Tree limbs should be kept trimmed back away from the roof. These can easily channel excess water onto the roof or the home's siding. Tree limbs will break eventually, which could lead to further damage. They can also beat against the roof during a windstorm. A limb that extends over the roof also provides squirrels and other critters easy access to the roof, which can lead to unwanted visitors moving into the home's attic.
Finally, check the seals around anything penetrating the roof, such as a chimney or an HVAC vent. If these seals are allowed to degrade, they can be a major source of moisture leaking into the attic.
3. Yard Care
Along with the street-facing facade of a home, the yard is one of the ways to make a good first impression on people. Keeping the yard healthy from the start will save homeowners the trouble of replacing it if it dies. Here are some affordable yard care tips to keep a lawn looking lush and green.
Know the Right Climate Zone for a Lawn. States with different climates have different requirements for the types of grasses that will grow. A lawn in Los Angeles has very different needs in terms of plant hardiness when compared to one in North Dakota. The three climate zones when it comes to lawn grasses are:
- Cool season turf (Average 65-70F summer temperatures)
- Transitional turf (Average 70-85 summer temperatures)
- Warm season turf (Average 85+ summer temperatures)
If a lawn struggles after purchasing a home, the previous owner may have seeded it with the wrong type of grass for the region. A different seed grass might work wonders. Look for one at a supply store that meets the climate parameters to grow a more lush, full lawn.
Water Deeply & Slowly. A lawn should be watered deeply every two to three days for maximum benefit. Using more water less frequently encourages grass to grow deeper roots. The deeper the grass' roots, the less friendly a lawn becomes to weeds and pests. Watering early in the morning is most effective, so less water is lost through evaporation.
Take Care of the Soil. A soil pH tester can be purchased for $15 to $20. This simple device can tell a homeowner whether their soil is getting too acidic or not acidic enough. The pH test can then be used to determine the right type of soil enhancers to use. Aerate and fertilize the soil yearly to adjust the pH between 6.5 and 7.0 for best results.
4. Window and Door Maintenance
Properly maintaining doors and windows can reduce annual utility bills and prevent moisture seepage, leading to damage. Fortunately, taking care of these items is relatively simple and affordable.
Door maintenance is usually a quick chore. Check the hinge screws and any doorknob screws once a year. Give them a quick hand-tightening with a Phillips-head screwdriver if needed. Check the weather-stripping at the door’s base, and replace it if it has degraded to where you can detect a draft. Check the sealant around the external edges of the door frame and the home's siding. If it needs re-caulked, take the time and spend a few dollars to reseal everything. Keeping moisture from leaking in should be a major priority.
Windows are a little more involved when it comes to maintenance. Inspect each window annually and look for imperfections that need to be dealt with. Clean out the tracks by vacuuming dust or debris. Simple soap and water will do the trick if they need a more thorough cleaning.
Also, make sure each window slides easily along its track. In the process, you can check sealants and paint, because gaps in these can lead to water damage inside the house if the problem isn't quickly dealt with. Reseal with caulk or repaint as needed.
Like roof maintenance in places that get a lot of snow, the window maintenance rules differ for homes near the ocean, where saltwater spray erodes things more quickly. Windows should be checked quarterly for oceanfront homes instead of annually. Wash the exteriors with soap and water every three months to prevent salt residue from building up. Caulking and paint will need to be touched up more frequently for homes near the ocean as well.
5. HVAC Maintenance
From heat in the wintertime to air conditioning in the summer, an HVAC system is a major quality-of-life enhancer in modern homes. But it's also an appliance that requires a lot of ongoing maintenance.
Regular HVAC maintenance can be a relatively inexpensive way to maintain the lifespan of the system. Even in more expensive housing markets, an annual professional maintenance checkup can run between $150 and $200, which is much cheaper than major repairs will cost.
There are also several things that individual homeowners can do on their own to help with the upkeep of an HVAC system:
- Check the air filter monthly and replace as needed
- Remove debris or hose down the outdoor unit periodically
- Keep supply and return registers inside the home unblocked
- Trim bushes or foliage away from an outdoor unit at least 18 inches
There are too many annual maintenance tasks that an HVAC technician will do to list here. A professional performing routine maintenance — usually in the spring and fall for a minimal price — will work wonders to keep an HVAC system operating at peak efficiency. This not only lowers monthly utility bills, but also prolongs the life of the system and staves off expensive home repairs like replacing a furnace or heat pump.
6. Simple Appliance Maintenance Tasks
The clothes dryer and the water heater are two appliances that can last longer than expected if some simple maintenance tasks related to them are done.
Most dryers will connect to the outside of a home, which means there is another opportunity for moisture to enter the home. Most long-term homeowners know that moisture seepage can and will happen anywhere possible, so this should be taken seriously. Most clothes dryers have an outdoor vent that should be checked once per year. The opening around the outdoor vent should be re-caulked if needed.
The dryer vent itself should be cleaned out once every two years or so. The vent hose can be easily disconnected. Clean the hose (or replace it cheaply) and the inside of the vent where it connects to the wall. A surprising amount of dryer lint can build up here. The lint trap on the dryer can also be periodically washed with some soap and water. These tasks will keep the dryer running efficiently, and will prevent water from leaking into the home from outside.
Water heater maintenance is also very important. A failed water heater can flood a basement or garage, depending on where it's located. A water heater that is maintained regularly can also prolong its lifespan, preventing an expensive replacement. The drain valve at the water heater's base is designed to attach a standard garden hose to it. This can be used once a year to drain the water heater, releasing sediment and “gunk” from it. Releasing this buildup will keep the heater running more efficiently, save money on utility bills, and make it last longer.
Protect Your Home with Affordable Maintenance
A home is worth protecting by performing these routine maintenance tasks. Investing in a piece of property like a home makes it incredibly important to prolong its lifespan and preserve its value over time. Most of these tasks are simple enough that any homeowner can do them, or hire a professional to help with the upkeep and maintenance. These preventive tips are always more affordable than performing a full replacement or repair down the road!
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