Protect Your Best Investment with These Home Maintenance Tips

If you’re in the position of most Americans, your home is likely your largest investment – by a significant margin. Regular maintenance, the occasional repair, and a wishlist of renovations or improvements, are all part of owning a home. Putting in a little legwork to maintain your home can help protect your investment, reduce the risk of costly repairs, and help you come to a better understanding of where renovations would be most impactful for your home.

Home maintenance can be overwhelming to say the least, but a good place to start is with a simple home maintenance list. Whether you’re into using your smartphone’s Notes app, a shareable Google Doc, or a good old-fashioned piece of paper for your to-do lists, you can approach your home maintenance in much the same way. This allows you to visualize the most essential tasks, prioritize needs based on the season ahead or a growing family, and keep track of when you last did a certain maintenance task.

However you plan to track your progress, the most important part is developing your understanding of what aspects of your home need regular maintenance. You may also want to look into home maintenance tips (particularly outside maintenance tips) specific to your area.

For a general starting point, here are some basic home maintenance tips to get you on the right track.

Your Monthly Home Maintenance List

You’ve probably got a solid routine for daily and weekly household chores, but beyond that, it’s all too easy to throw things in the “I’ll do that next summer” basket. While it’s fine to leave certain tasks for just once or twice a year, don’t neglect these simple, essential home maintenance tasks.

• Check your HVAC filters, and be sure to clean them when dirty. If they’re too far gone, replacing them is straightforward and inexpensive.
• Check around your toilets, sinks, dishwashers, and washing machines for leaks. Be on the lookout for even subtle stains on the wall and soft or rippled flooring.
• Test smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. It’s an annoying task, but either of these could save your life in an emergency.
• Take a close look at the caulking around your bathtub and shower, and be sure to fix it if it shows signs of deterioration.
• Inspect the filter on your range hood, located above your stove. Clean the filter, or replace it if needed.
• Same goes for your dishwasher filter. Keeping the filter clean will protect your dishwasher, reduce odors, and make your dishes even cleaner!
• For regular outside maintenance, do a thorough inspection of your home’s exterior every few weeks. Look for cracks in the foundation, clogged gutters, or any damage to the paint or siding.

Your Semi-Annual Home Maintenance List

Add these more occasional to-do’s onto the list. Depending on the size of your family, you may have to do these tasks more or less often, but 2-3 times per year should be a good cadence to start with.

• Slide out your refrigerator, unplug it, and thoroughly wipe down and vacuum the coils.
• Remove and unplug your dryer to vacuum out the vent and hoses, which prevents nasty buildup and reduces a potential risk of fire.
• If your kitchen is smelling off-color, it might be time to clean out your garbage disposal.
• Examine and test your sump pump, which keeps water out of your basement or crawl space.
• For some outside maintenance, trim back any trees, bushes, or plants that might be encroaching on your foundation, siding, or roof.

Your Yearly Home Maintenance List

These big tasks should be done at least once each year, depending on the seasons and climate in your area.

• Drain any sediment from your hot water tank to help it work more efficiently.
• Check all of your fire extinguishers by lifting them to make sure they’re full.
• Inspect your attic, basement, and any crawl spaces for signs of damage.
• Inspect and repair the caulking around windows and doors that may leave you exposed to drafts and moisture.
• Inspect and restock your emergency supply kit.
• For your annual outside maintenance, clean the outside of your house including powerwashing decks and/or driveways, and removing leaves from gutters.

That’s it! While it’s not a conclusive list by any means, this is a great place to start if you’re wondering about how to build a home maintenance list and stay on top of it.

With these home maintenance tips, you’ll feel confident enough to keep your family warm, safe, and happy, while protecting your largest investment. Happy householding!