Keeping Your Home in Tip Top Condition

Take Care of Your Valuable Investment with These Recommendations

You bought your home for a reason: you want a place to call home and – when the time is right – potentially benefit from a return on your investment. This means that when you’re taking care of your home, you’re taking care of it for your own needs, as well as for the future homeowner who will take one look and decide whether to buy or pass.

Taking care of a home, however, isn’t all that easy. There’s plenty of work to be done both inside and out, not to mention the unexpected problems that can arise along the way. However, there are some simple services and tips you can use to make sure that small issues don’t turn into larger problems.

If you take these suggestions, you can enjoy your home the way it was meant to be, as well as keep it in great shape over time. The following tips don’t require as much elbow grease as you’d imagine, but they’ll go a long way in maintaining your investment.

1. Be Sure to Keep an Eye on Your Foundation

One of the biggest sources of trouble for homeowners is the foundation. Water can get into your basement during a rainstorm, and shifting soils can cause your foundation to crack. You want to keep an eye on this key structural element in your house because foundation damage can be expensive to repair, and potential homeowners always check out the basement for any signs of trouble.

Fortunately, inviting a foundation repair expert to your home isn’t all that troublesome. A reputable company will offer a free assessment and estimate, so you can get a sense of your foundation’s condition. In the meantime, you can DIY some foundation-related repairs by filling cracks on the exterior foundation with an epoxy found in hardware stores and making sure your gutters aren’t dumping water around your foundation. You can also watch a quick video or two to learn how to maintain the proper amount of soil around the perimeter of your foundation to absorb and redirect rainfall.

When you hire a knowledgeable foundation team while taking care of any smaller issues on your own, you won’t have to worry about water in your basement during storms, or wonder whether those cracks in your basement are normal. You’ll be able to focus on enjoying your home, as opposed to fretting over constant concerns.

2. Keep Your HVAC System Running Efficiently with Regular Service

The largest appliance in your home is most likely your HVAC system. Again, most potential homeowners are going to look at this system when they hire an inspector, so keeping an eye on your HVAC system is a smart idea for the long term. Right now, however, it’s the part of your home that allows you to enjoy your space comfortably, so you also want to keep it in good shape for yourself.

Much like your foundation, if you take care of smaller issues on your own and hire a professional to check your HVAC system for any issues outside your wheelhouse, you can maintain and even strengthen this system without having to worry about a major breakdown in the future. An HVAC service technician should check your system twice a year, ensuring that each part of your system is optimized for the spring and winter. Many service technicians know tips and tricks that can even provide more efficiency for the system than when it was installed.

On your own, you can program your thermostat, so that you’re not working your home too hard while you’re in bed or at work. You can also change your air filters regularly – every 30 to 90 days – to make sure you’re getting better indoor air quality.

Finally, you can monitor your air ducts by keeping an eye out for moisture in the summer – a telltale sign that you may need a dehumidifier or that certain ducts are pumping too much air to certain parts of your home. Limiting moisture in these small ways can prevent damage to your walls and even help you avoid the introduction of mold or mildew.

3. Smaller, Faster Jobs You Can Do on the Weekend

If the jobs above feel too daunting because of your busy schedule, have no fear! There are also smaller strategies you can apply in your home as needed. Although having your HVAC system and foundation looked at are essential, you will want to take care of these other items regularly.

Smaller strategies for keeping your home in great shape include:

Setting a manageable cleaning schedule, breaking it down by room if you have less time on your hands.
Pruning and trimming plants and bushes around your home to avoid introducing moisture and pests to your home.
Taking care of your lawn with mowing and watering when needed.
Regularly cleaning debris out of your gutters.

These Tips Will Help You Thrive in Your Home-Sweet-Home

Following these tips will take you a long way toward owning a home that’s in great condition. Living in a home that is clean and doesn’t have major issues to worry about can truly enhance your quality of life and your self-esteem about what you’ve accomplished as a homeowner. Further, you can rest assured knowing that when it is time to sell, you’ll be able to benefit from your hard work by handing off a space you feel proud of.