3 Crucial Home Maintenance Tips

Being a homeowner is truly a blessing, because you no longer have to deal with rent and landlords. However, home ownership also comes with its own problems. Mortgage is more affordable than rent in many cases, and you’re buying something instead of renting it, but you’re still saddled with a monthly payment. Moreover, you might be free from your landlord, but you’re also free from that landlord’s responsibility over maintenance and repairs. You’re on your own, and you’ll need these tips to help keep your home in tip top shape.

Electricity

Electricity is a modern marvel that makes everything in life much easier and much more simple. However, it can also be dangerous in some circumstances, so you’ll need to make sure that everything is as it should be with the wiring in your home in order to avoid potential problems. For example, your circuit breakers will need to be able to handle power surges in order to prevent the risk of a fire in the event of a surge. Likewise, power strips will need to be grounded and surge protected in order to prevent a fire hazard. Wall outlets are typically grounded, but powerstrips may or may not be, so it’s up to your discretion to choose the right products when shopping for electronics. It’s also important to consider which electronics should and should not be used with a power strip. If a power strip isn’t surge protected, then you shouldn’t plug high yield cables into it. For example, the average desktop computer is too powerful for a power strip unless it’s grounded, but a laptop charge cable is much less powerful and can be used safely with any power strip that isn’t overloaded.

Plumbing

Like electrical wiring, faulty plumbing can cause major problems, and the average house has just as much plumbing as it does wiring. Leaking pipes can lead to water damage, and water damage is one of the most detrimental things that can happen to home. This is because water damage is irreversible, because it can warp or rot the lumber within the home. That means that water damaged parts of your home can't be repaired; instead, you’ll have to replace affected pieces of lumber whole cloth in order to solve the problem. Because of this, you’ll need to make sure that all of your plumbing is in working order, meaning that you’ll need to keep a keen eye out for things like the water pressure dropping in sinks or showers, dripping, etc. Some plumbing, such as that under a kitchen sink, is often easily accessible, meaning that you can usually take care of it on your own, if you know what you’re doing. On the other hand, much of the plumbing will be within the walls, requiring more work and expertise, at which point hiring a plumber and/or a contractor is your best bet.

Foundation

The foundation is the single most important component of any building, because that’s what prevents a house from sinking into the turn or shifting and becoming crooked over time. Damage to the foundation of your home is therefore the biggest threat to the structural integrity and safety of the home. Over time, a cracked foundation may cause the house to tilt, initially causing symptoms such as warped or cracked lumber before the house eventually collapses. Luckily, this takes a long time, plenty of time in which to notice the problem and take care of it. Sealing the crack in a foundation is fairly simple if taken care of earlier, and it can be done using a simple concrete mixture.

Your home is a major blessing, especially in this economy. However, you’ll have to take care of your home if you want it to take care of you. There are numerous things that can go wrong in your home, both major and minor. Performing routine checks and maintenance is the best way to keep your home standing without breaking the bank.