Home Maintenance Tips for New Homeowners

If you’re a new homeowner or about to be soon, there’s a wide variety of topics you’re no doubt researching, including everything related to interior design, plus home financing, property markets, and more.

However, it’s also crucial to learn what you can about home maintenance. After you’ve purchased a property, it’s a must to spend time and money on upkeep, too, so the house stays in good condition long term.

For all the ins and outs of maintenance and tips for doing jobs around the home, check out House Method for in-depth support. The website provides well-researched advice, reviews, and resources on a wide range of topics. As the consumer’s toolkit to a better home, House Method does all the homework on property ownership so you don’t have to.

For now, though, to get started ASAP, here are some of the top maintenance tips you need to begin thinking about today.

Plan Out Your Maintenance for the Year

The first pointer is to plan out your maintenance for the year ahead. By creating a schedule for yourself, you’ll have a better idea of what needs to be done and when. This will ensure you don’t accidentally miss out on doing important tasks because the months have sped by. Some jobs only need to be done once a year or every two years, while others are more regular and could be something to consider every quarter or so.

Get the HVAC Serviced

When it comes to necessary maintenance steps, having the heating and cooling systems in your home serviced is one of the top ones. As with any other appliance type, HVAC units wear down and require repairs as time goes on. Hiring an electrician or specific heating and cooling tradesperson to come in each year and service your unit (you shouldn’t touch electrical work yourself unless you’re properly licensed and experienced) is an expense that is well worth paying for.

It’s only an annual cost, after all, and will ensure your HVAC system works as efficiently as possible and thereby keeps your energy bills down. Plus, regular maintenance also keeps the product in better condition and helps it to last longer. It’s wise to get a specialist in during spring or fall to service your unit, so it’s ready to go full blast come the hottest or coldest months of the year.

Beyond an annual maintenance plan, there’s other ways to keep your HVAC’s operating at its best efficiency. Air filters are one of those out of sight, out of mind chores. Regularly replace the air filters in each unit in your home. Dirty filters clogged with dust and pollutants become ineffective. Worse, they strain the system. Need a reminder? Consider an air filter subscription service which automatically sends replacement air filters to your doorstep. When the filters arrive so does your reminder that it’s time to change them out.

Be Alert to Pests

Pests cause big issues for thousands of homes around the country each year, as they aren’t easily visible yet can create structural and other expensive damage. To reduce the likelihood that your property will be negatively affected by creepy crawlies, be alert to signs of an infestation. For example, you might notice bubbles in paint or wood shavings on the ground.

It’s a good idea to hire a licensed contractor, a pest inspector or the like, who specializes in this particular field. They can do tests to see if there are termites or other nasties eating away at your home or surrounding surfaces. If so, they can treat the problem by getting rid of the current pests and placing barriers around your property to ward off future attacks.

Check and Clean the Roof and Gutters

Your maintenance schedule should also factor in checking and cleaning the roof of your house and all the gutters on the property. Over time roofs can wear down and tiles and shingles can break. Extreme weather or vines and other greenery can lift up or otherwise damage parts of the roof and lead to leaks and other issues in turn.

Similarly, if your gutters aren’t cleaned out regularly, they can quickly become chock full of plant material, dirt, etc. If this stays in the gutters for too long, ice dams and icicles can form and the water will melt and pool up. Later on, rust and even holes can occur due to all this moisture.

Keep issues at bay by cleaning out your gutters if you can do so carefully. Also, have a roofer or plumber come by to inspect your roof for damage annually and repair things as needed.

Inspect Pools and Fences

Another maintenance task to do without fail is inspecting your pool and the fencing around it. Check that pool filters, pumps, and vacuums are in good working order and doing their job so water doesn’t turn green and nasty.

Even more important though, from a safety perspective, is ensuring that fencing around the water zone is secure. You don’t want your children or other visiting youngsters, or your pets, to be able to get into the water unsupervised. Check that locks work properly on gates and that fences don’t have loose sections, gaps, or are unsteady and could be pulled down or fall down.

Home maintenance tasks might take up some time, energy, and money each year but the consequences of not doing these jobs are worse. Consider how good you’ll feel when you tick each item off your to-do list. Plus, break the work up into sections and you’ll soon have it all sorted.