How to Keep Up On Home Maintenance?

Let's Do It!
 
                                               I like to break it down into small and large tasks.

Home Maintenance Man!

The small tasks, are things I can do for myself, such as paint the back door, replace a torn screen, patch a crack or hole in my driveway, clean out the gutters and so forth. Big things, whether they be from an emergency/accident, force of nature, or from scheduled maintenance, should be planned for. You and your spouse should be keeping a list of the smaller items, otherwise known as the honey do list. Some things if not seen to, can cause major problems, and turn into costly money mistakes. These include anything with a leak, that collateral water damage can be costly.

          If it is beyond your scope of competence, or you do not want to invest in specialty tools, then you must hire a professional. Take every opportunity to get to know the local contractors. Painter, Electricians, Fence builders, who knows when you may need one. When your neighbor across the street is putting a new roof on, go over and meet the contractor, talk a little roofing and get a card. Always think quality when hiring a contractor. A cheap contractor almost always means cheap work.        

The Lady Pressure Washer!

          Sometimes people do not pay enough attention to their houses and let them get run down before realizing it. We always recommend that home owners perform a "Spring Cleaning" on the exterior of their home on one of the first days of warm spring weather. A great way to spend a few hours outdoors. You can use the pressure washer, or the bucket, scrub brush, and water hose. This is just basically washing your house. Pay particular attention to cleaning your gutters - inside and outside, and your windows and window seals,  check the condition of the paint, gutter attachment, screens, siding, bricks, foundation, behind the bushes, deck, steps, chimney flashing, and the chimney cap, hand rails, porch columns and all the other miscellaneous places and things on your specific house. Doing a detailed spring cleaning gives you a chance to be up close and see any items needing attention. Correct any items that you can on the spot, and schedule any maintenance as necessary.
          Do your Financial planning for home maintenance. In all the areas of financial planning this is the one that most often gets over looked. From the time your house is built it starts to deteriorate. The wood, the siding, the paint, the roof, the works. It's fairly easy to figure out when your need a new roof and or a new paint job. Develope a schedule to have these tasks completed as they come due. Be sure to figure up how much it will cost in 20 years to have that roof replaced, not how much it costs today, and be ready for it, start saving.