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Maintenance is one of the most important parts of owning a home. You need to keep up with your house to keep it functional for years to come. While you might be crossing chores off your to-do list left and right, you may have overlooked certain areas of your home.
When you complete your regular home maintenance, add these tasks to your list.
1. Clean Your Dryer Vent Duct
Most people know to clean out the lint trap in their dryer after every use, but how often do they clean out the duct? Clothes dryers have long ducts, which can get clogged over time with lint or pests.
To clean it, you’ll have to remove the vent from the back of the dryer and use a vacuum with a long hose to get all the lint. You may even need to replace the duct itself. In fact, metal or aluminum ducts are required now, so you should replace any vinyl ducts. A smooth metal duct is your best option, but flexible aluminum ducts are still better than vinyl ones.
2. Wipe The Weep Holes
Weep holes aren’t talked about often enough. They help drain rainwater so it doesn’t get stuck in your window.
If you’ve had some heavy winds and rain, you might need to check your windows’ weep holes. They could be plugged up with small leaves and twigs, which can be counterproductive. Water might spill into your house next time it rains instead of draining like it’s supposed to. Water damage can cost as much as $7 per square foot to fix, so you want to prevent indoor flooding however possible.
First, you should check whether your windows actually have weep holes. Not every window has a space for this drainage. Once you pinpoint your weep holes, consider spraying your window with a garden hose. Then, you’ll see if the water drains or if it gets stuck, whether by something seen or unseen. Fit something into the weep hole to move whatever might be inside. Once you can see the stream of water coming out of the weep hole, you’ll know you’ve cleared it.
3. Check Your Garage Door
You may not think about your garage door much, but it’s one of the most important parts of your home. It can keep the cold air out in the winter months and it’s also one of the most convenient ways to access the inside of your home.
You should aim to replace your garage door every 7 to 10 years. Make sure that your garage door closes all the way and leaves no gaps. You might have to replace its weatherstripping if you have an older door.
While you’re at it, check your garage walls. Your garage might be used as storage, or its walls may have taken beatings from the wear and tear of life. Are there any areas that need some patching up? Filling in holes and dents is a relatively easy task you can do yourself with inexpensive materials. Even if you’re one of the only ones who see the inside of your garage, it can help you feel like your house is more put-together.
4. Aim For A Spotless Condenser Coil
Nobody likes spending more than they need to on their energy bills. By upgrading your refrigerator to a more recent model, you can slash your energy bill to a fraction of what it is now, depending on how old your previous model was. Still, that isn’t the only factor affecting how much you’ll pay due to your refrigerator. You should also maintain the condenser coil.
The condenser coils on the bottom or back of your refrigerator dictate how cold the appliance gets, meaning that when it’s clogged, it will have to work harder and use more energy to cool down the inside of the fridge. You may not realize just how blocked the condenser coil can get, but if you have pets that wander into your kitchen, it’s bound to have some sort of pet hair packed inside.
Aim to clean out your condenser coil at least once or twice a year, but you can check more often if your pet sheds a lot or if you worry about excess dust. Unplug your fridge before attempting to clean the coil. A simple vacuum hose should do the trick, but you’ll encounter lots of dust, so be prepared to sneeze.
5. Inspect Your Roof
You may not be inspecting your roof as often as you should. After an intense storm, you may need to assess the damage. You might not always see damage from the ground. In some cases, you may need to climb onto your roof and look for any issues, either as part of your routine or after bad weather.
Loose shingles might pose a hazard to anyone walking by your home, or they might cause unsteady footing for anyone inspecting your roof in the future. By inspecting it frequently, you can catch things and remedy them before they grow into more significant issues.
While you may be unable to tell everything about your roof from the ground, simply looking at it from your front yard can tell you about your house’s integrity. If you notice your roof starting to sag on the sides, your walls may have shifted, compromising the safety of your home.
You may also consider cleaning out your gutters regularly. Gutters can get clogged full of leaves in the fall, and clogged gutters could signal water damage to your home’s foundation.
Keep Up With Your Maintenance
Taking care of your home can be a lot of work, but once you know what you need to check, you can break everything down into manageable tasks.
Remember to maintain every part of your house, not just the areas you see every day. By paying attention to even the smallest features and fixtures of your home, you’ll ensure your house and everything within it remains functional for years to come. Plus, your wallet will probably thank you for maintaining things instead of letting them go until you have to replace them.
About The Author:
Oscar Collins is the managing editor at Modded, where he writes about cars, fitness, the outdoors and more. Check out @TModded for regular updates!
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