A Home Maintenance Plan Complete with Checklist
I don’t think anyone likes it when something plugs up, leaks or quits working, especially at home. Home is supposed to be the place where we go to get away from the troubles, not deal with them.
Routine maintenance is a good way to minimize these costly disruptions.
Nothing is permanent. Everything wears out and deteriorates over time. Regular maintenance will help extend the life of your home and that sizable investment. Closing your eyes or looking the other way doesn’t make it go away.
Last week we discussed the importance of having an intentional plan. Today we will look at an excerpt of what this plan should include and why. (Get the full plan here)
Home Maintenance Plan
Home maintenance – Prevents breakdowns, saves money and keeps your home in the best possible condition. This regularly scheduled review can expose conditions that might not otherwise be found. This reduces mental, physical and financial stress and strain.
Seasons happen every year and are a natural part of life. Each of these seasons presents different weather conditions and temperatures which effect your home in varying ways. We also use calendars to schedule our lives. Combining these two things into a seasonal Home Maintenance Checklist breaks a big responsibility into small manageable scheduled tasks.
MONTHLY MAINTENANCE – These tasks should be done every month. You might prefer to schedule one day to do them all or spread them out over the month doing one or two items periodically throughout.
Clean garbage disposals – Put a little vinegar in an ice cube tray, add some water and freeze, then run some cubes through the disposal. Follow up with a little baking soda and warm water. The ice cubes will sharpen the blades, the vinegar and baking soda will break down food and grease build up and will leave it smelling fresh and clean.
QUARTERLY MAINTENANCE – These quarterly tasks, like the monthly ones, can be scheduled for one day each quarter or disbursed through out the quarter at monthly, weekly or other intervals. The important thing is to schedule them and do them.
Change HVAC and/or water filters – How often you change the filter of your furnace / air conditioner will be determined by how much it runs, how many people live in your home, whether you have animals in the house and the geographic location. Also, if you use thinner less expensive filters they should be changed more often.
ANNUAL MAINTENANCE (By Season) – Annual tasks are more seasonal than monthly or quarterly. There is still some flexibility that can be determined by your own preference or life schedule. Some of them are not specific to the season but have been placed as they have, to spread them more evenly throughout the year.
WINTER –
Clean faucet aerators and shower heads – Dirty aerators on the end of your faucets and in shower heads can mean limescale and sediment are blocking the flow and water pressure. Unscrew the aerators and shower heads, remove the aerator and/or screen, soak them in a 50/50 vinegar/water mixture for 30 minutes or until clean, rinse and reinstall. Be careful to pay attention to the order and direction the parts come apart so that you can put them back together correctly.
SPRING –
Service central air conditioner – It’s a good idea to have your central air conditioner serviced annually by a professional. Depending on where you live this will generally cost between $100 and $300.
SUMMER –
Lubricate and test overhead garage door – Garage doors have moving parts that should be lubricated. With the door closed clean dirt and debris from the track. Use a lithium-based aerosol and spray rollers, bearings and other moving parts of the door and opener (chain or threaded rod). Your garage door should have stop and auto reverse motion detection to sense if an object is in its path. Get a 2×4 piece of wood and place it underneath the open door, then close the door using the opener button. The door should stop closing once it detects the wood and go back up. Also test the photo-electric sensors by moving something in front of them while the door is coming down, it should reverse direction and go back up.
FALL –
Service central heating system – It’s a good idea to have your furnace serviced annually by a professional. Depending on where you live this will generally cost between $100 and $300.
The complete list is long and there are still more things that could be added. Keep in mind that everyone’s individual lifestyle, type of construction, geographic location, etc. will determine specifics to your individual plan.
The complete list can certainly seem overwhelming. This is a big part of why routine maintenance gets overlooked. If you break it down into the individual tasks, spread them out and schedule them, it’s doable, like eating an elephant one bite at a time.