Maintaining a home is a full-time commitment. If you’re the owner, you’re expected to do more than the basic cleaning and maintenance to make sure that the house remains structurally safe and sound.
You also need to ensure that the areas not frequently seen are given ample attention and care. These include the pipes, drains, the back of your refrigerator, and the vents. Here are five things you should add to your maintenance checklist.
Waterproofing the decks
In Utah, many homeowners prioritize deck waterproofing to keep wooden decks from changing color and becoming waterlogged. These decks are exposed to the elements, foot traffic, and scraping from moving furniture and other items.
If you’ve just purchased a house and you notice that the deck has become discolored, have a professional check it for structural damage before having it cleaned, sealed, and stained. You may need to repeat the process every few years since wood is prone to damage.
Monitoring the water pressure
Doing regular water pressure tests can prevent burst pipes and water damage. This may not be a problem for newer homes, but for older ones, the pressure-reducing valve needs to be checked and replaced.
A new and functioning valve will keep water pressure down to 75 lbs per square inch. Excessive water pressure can damage pipes, appliances, and other connections.You can easily buy a pressure gauge to check what your water pressure is.
Cleaning the refrigerator coils
Condenser coils found at the back of your fridge can become clogged with dirt and debris. When this happens, the coils are unable to release heat efficiently. This, in turn, makes your compressor work extra hard and for a longer period of time. Besides consuming more energy, this also shortens the intended life span of your appliance.
Remember to clean the refrigerator coils of pet hair, cobwebs, and dust once a month using a special brush. You can also use a small but powerful vacuum to suck excess dirt out. You can buy a bendable coil brush online or at home cleaning supply stores.
Drain sediments from the water heater
Water heaters are only noticed when they fail to work or when they start to leak. It turns out that homeowners should be draining water from the heater every so often to drain out sediments which have collected at the bottom of the tank.
The sediments create hot spots on the heaters and can cause them to fail. Sediment build-up can also cause electric heaters to malfunction. Maintaining water heaters and cleaning out sediments should be done once a year.
Oiling the garage doors
Garage doors open and close several times a day especially if you have multiple cars. Remember to oil or lube the torsion springs above the roller tracks to extend their lifespan and keep them from breaking. Don’t forget to oil the hinges, track, and rollers of your garage door, too.
While it sounds like a lot of work, doing these routine checks can save you thousands of dollars in repairs and parts replacement down the road. It also helps ensure that there will be no accidents like burst pipes or no hot water in the middle of the night.
