Organize Your Home Checklist
13 Useful Tips To Help With Your Home Maintenance
Being a homeowner isn’t easy, by any means. You have many things to take care of and remember. You need to keep your home in good working order. It needs to be clean, tidy, with the bills paid. That’s the only way you and your family can live there happy and stress-free.
If you’re a little confused on how you’re supposed to keep on top of everything, these 13 useful tips will help you with your home maintenance:
-
What to Do About A Water Leaking Toilet Tank
A water leaking toilet tank is a common problem in many homes. If you’re unsure whether you have a leaking toilet tank or not, there’s a very smart tip you can use. Simply use some red food colouring in the toilet tank. Leave it for a short while and then come back to check on it. If the water is a pink colour, then you have a leak! If you do have a leak, it’s time for you to replace your flapper. It’s fairly simple to do this – check out this tutorial to help you.
-
Always Check Over Your Washing Machine
Always check over your washing machine for leaks and other problems. You should do this maybe once a week to ensure that everything is in good working order. One of the main causes of water damage is a washing machine with a leak in it or faulty hose. Make sure yours is running smoothly regularly to avoid issues and costly repairs.
-
Keep Fats And Oils Away From Drains
One of the worst things you can ever do to your drains is put fats and oils down them. Keep them well away. These substances will clog up your drains really quickly, and make it difficult to fix. If you accidentally get fats and oils down your drain, then use washing up liquid or another soap to help get rid of it and move it down the drain. Unclogging sink drains can actually be really expensive if you’re not careful.
-
Use A Hair Strainer In The Bathroom Drain
The bathroom drain can also get very clogged, but the main culprit is hair. To stop this from happening, use a hair strainer in the bathroom to gather it all up so you can easily remove it. These are cheap and will save you a world of hassle!
-
Check Your Air Conditioning
Checking your air conditioning to make sure it’s working properly is important too. If you don’t, you will be spending too much money on heating and cooling your home. Make sure you keep your air filter clean. If you’ve had it for a while, then it might be time to replace it. You may also want to look at and check the wiring and other components, in case they are overheating. You should have no chips or cracks on the condenser fan to make sure it’s working properly. If you have an outside air conditioning unit, then make sure you check that over in the same way too. If you’re unsure of what to do or you have some big repairs to make, then head to Save Home Heat for more information. Keeping these things in good working order will keep you comfortable and ensure you’re not going out of pocket.
-
What To Do About Touching Up Your Paint
Home maintenance is as much to do with keeping your home looking good as anything else. The good news is, you don’t need to repaint it all the time. You can simply keep a pot of paint on hand for when small touch ups need to be made, and this shouldn’t take you very long at all. If you smoke or somebody in the household smokes, it’s a good idea to buy paint that resists stains or prevent it with a special product. This should help to stop any discolouring. The only issue you’ll have is if you don’t pick a matching paint colour once you’ve run out of the original pot.
-
Problems With Refrigerator and Freezers
The refrigerator and freezers are constantly running, so we can experience many problems with them. The system at the back is really important for making sure everything is being cooled properly, but if too much dust and debris forms here, they can stop working and you may even start wasting energy. Clean the back of here with a hoover every few months to make sure they are working optimally. Not only that, ensuring the seals are working properly is essential too. If not, you could be letting out cool air. To test it, put a note in between the seal and close the door. If you can easily pull it out, then the seal has loosened and should probably be replaced.
-
Keep Up A Regular Inspection Schedule
It can be difficult to remember every single thing you need to do in the home. This is why it’s a good idea to keep a regular inspection schedule, rather than just doing it whenever you remember. Write dates in your calendar so you know when you must inspect things like your A/C and fridge freezers. Make appointments in advance if you need replacements or professionals to do the job for you.
-
Give Your Home A Deep Clean Every 6 Months
You probably clean your home fairly regularly as it is. However, most people want to get this done as fast as possible. This means skipping small tasks they think nobody will notice, such as dusting the tops of doors and wiping over appliances. Aim to give your home a deep clean at least once every 6 months to stay on top of everything and make sure nobody picks up any health issues. Don’t leave a room until you’ve finished it completely, and do it in a way that makes sense. Get the family to chip in if that’s possible, and put some motivational music on! It should take a few hours and go quite quickly!
-
Check And Prevent Insect Problems
Checking to make sure you don’t have insect or pest problems is all well and good, but preventing them first is even better. You can prevent insect and pest problems in many different ways. Use oils like peppermint dotted around the entrance of your home. You can also use repellents and poisons, but these aren’t the kindest and can be dangerous if you have pets! Making sure you store your food properly should help too. Prevention is always going to be better than finding a cure! If you do need a cure, you might find using natural solutions helps before you attempt to use chemicals and things to get rid of them. If you decide to use things like humane traps to get rid of them, then make sure you let them off at least 2 km away or they might come back!
-
Check Your Gutters
Your gutters can cause problems, such as leaking in basements and collected debris. If leaves and things collect too much in your gutters over time, then they can break and cause issues. Check your gutters at least once every season and clean them to make sure they are working well. Don’t leave it until the last minute to replace them either!
-
Cracks In Concrete
Take a look around your home and look for cracks in concrete. This can happen over time thanks to the weather. If weather permitting, you can use a power washer to clean the outside and then fill in the cracks with cement crack filler. Make sure there are no nests or any other problems with the cracks. Leaving them for too long can cause some very expensive problems.
-
Check Your Power Equipment
Check over your power equipment before you use it. This is especially important during summer. By cleaning over things like your lawn mower and replacing the blades, you can actually get a better result, make the job easier, and use less power. Plus, you can save yourself from injury.
I hope you found these tips really useful. Home maintenance is stressful, but with these tips, you can make it a little less so. Remember, if you’re unsure on how to do something, don’t hesitate to contact a pro. There are tutorials online that can help you, but if something seems dangerous your safety needs to come first!
Feel free to leave your thoughts and/or tips on this Organize Your Home Checklist below in the comments.
Thanks a lot for reading, see you soon right here.
Klaudia
You have some great tips here and I like your graphics. Checking your air conditioner annually and changing your filters monthly will make it last much longer.
Good tips! My mother has always told me to check the hoses around the washer. I always forget. Thanks for the reminder.
Great tips. I hate to tell you but for rodents peppermint really doesn’t work. My refrigerator is on the blink as we speak. There is a lot outside maintenance I don’t have to do because I rent.