Nobody enjoys doing home maintenance, but it is crucial if you want to maintain or increase the value of your home. Dedicating a few hours every year to maintaining the cleanliness and structure of your property will not only help to ensure your home remains as valuable as possible, but can also protect you from excessive repair bills from when damage goes unnoticed for too long.
With that in mind, these are six of the most important things to include as part of your annual checklist.
1. Clean Exterior Walls
The biggest temptation for any homeowner is to leave the deep cleaning until it’s time to see your house. The problem is that the longer you leave it, the more difficult the grime and dirt will be. Instead, dedicate a few hours, once every spring, to giving the exterior of your house a good cleaning.
Simply attach a siding cleaning kit to a normal garden hose, and give those walls a thorough once-over. If you notice any areas that the hose isn’t clean, take a few minutes to scrub them down with hot water, a mild soap, and a sponge or rag, then rinse them off with the hose.
2. Clean the Gutters
Build-up in your gutters can cause rainwater to build up and eventually damage your roof, causing leaks. A leaking roof is one of the most costly problems having an enormous effect on the value of your home. For this reason, it is very important to make sure you have your gutters cleaned at least twice a year (if there are a lot of trees near your roof, you might want to clean them even more often).
3. Plumbing Checkup
Leaking roofs, toilets, and faulty water heaters are all things that will negatively affect the value of your home. In general, it is best to get these types of issues looked at immediately by a trained professional. However, it’s possible for a leak to occur somewhere that you might not easily notice. So, be sure to regularly inspect your property for leaks in the roof as well as inspecting water heaters, faucets, toilets, and under kitchen and bathroom sinks. If you find any leaks, you will want to contact a plumbing service like SG1 plumber Singapore as soon as possible. The longer the leak continues, the more damage it can cause to your propertly.
4. Clear Out Weeds
Weeds are another issue that may seem harmless at first, but if they are left alone, weeds can quickly spread and become a major eyesore, lowering the perceived value of your property. Weeds can do significant damage to your lawn and garden, as well as any paved property, where they can fit into small cracks and make the cracks much larger while they grow.
5. Paint Touch ups
Paint does a wonderful job of protecting your house from damage caused by the sun as well as water and rot, and it will continue to do its job as long as it’s kept in good condition. To keep the paint in good condition, do a check around your property for any signs of chipping or peeling paint. It only takes a few minutes to sand down and repaint a small area.
6. Check for Damaged Wood
Rot and termite damage is another one of the most significant and costly problems a house can have. Be sure to regularly inspect any areas with exposed wood, especially under a deck or in the house’s foundation, for any signs of rot or termite damage. If you are able to spot it quickly, a small repair now can save you from a huge repair bill in the future.
In all aspects of home maintenance, keep in mind that it is better to be safe than sorry. Small fixes and regular checkups for plumbing and other parts of your home can go a long way in maintaining and increasing the long-term value of your property.