Owning a home involves a lot of hard work. You not only need to keep your rooms clean, you need to fix problems as they happen to avoid large repair bills. Those chores may be obvious, but what about the things that need to be done that aren’t so obvious? Remember, to keep your home properly maintained you should never forget to do the following important tasks.
First, never skip upkeep on your fireplace. This means that you need to clean out the ashes as well as make sure the flue is working correctly. Also, hire a chimney sweep every couple of years, if not every year, if you use your wood burning fireplace a lot. These professionals make sure to remove any byproducts that may be clinging to the inner walls of the chimney. In addition, if your brick or tile fireplace has seen better days, meaning there are any lose pieces, have them fixed immediately. Small children have been injured or killed by pieces falling from fireplaces in disrepair. Also, if you live in the south and don’t use your fireplace much, remember, critters can enter your home through the chimney. Again, a professional can make sure that you have no surprise visitors.
Next, don’t forget to regularly clean or change your furnace filter. I’ll admit, I had been lax at doing this chore, but once I learned from my cousin’s new husband, a furnace repairman, how much energy I had been wasting by using dirty filters, I have begun to change the filter as recommended. Check with your local furnace technician if you are unsure if you have a washable filter or if you need to purchase new filters.
Another often overlooked chore is cleaning hard water deposits from shower heads and faucets. If you live in an area of the country with extremely hard water, you must make sure to use a product such as Limeaway to clean away the mineral deposits. This will make your showerheads perform better and last longer. In addition, these deposits can ruin seldom used toilets, such as those in an unfinished basement, so clean those with appropriate products as well.
A final chore many homeowners tend to ignore in the winter is a problem with the roof. Believe it or not, sheets of ice (ice dams) can damage your home. A tell-tale sign that you have problems are long icicles hanging from your eaves. This signals that your attic does not have proper insulation and/or ventilation. Adding additional insulation usually solves the problem; however, removing ice dams in the middle of winter can be very dangerous. Because of this, I recommend that you hire a professional with the right equipment to complete the job.
We all know that house maintenance can be a pain to do, yet it is a necessary part of being a homeowner. You want to make sure your home, probably your largest investment, keeps running efficiently and effectively. Because of this, don’t skip the four tasks listed above.
