Once you have found your dream home, all is not done. You have a lot of responsibilities – which will include regular home maintenance tasks – to help save money. As a new homeowner, you would rather spend time enjoying the beauty of your dream home than worrying over the numerous tasks that come under home maintenance.
Though the list is long, the exciting news is that you can handle most of it yourself – regardless of whether you have first-hand experience at it or not. Get some help from the internet, if you have any confusions. If not, your local handyman is ever ready to help you.
To organize the tasks that you need to carry out on a routine basis, it is recommended that you create a list for different occasions. You can actually breakdown your tasks into daily, monthly, annually, and seasonal categories – or you can start working on these whenever you find time and are in a mood to brighten up your home.
We thought we would help you a bit with organizing your list of tasks based on different occasions. However, you need not follow the list exactly as we’ve written down. You can alter it or choose to perform certain tasks according to your preferences.
If you are looking for property for sale in Nebraska, reach out to our team at Location Lincoln for assistance.
Below list will help you decide on organizing your home maintenance tasks efficiently:
- Monthly
Every month, please follow the below instructions:
- Start by testing smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, and carbon monoxide detectors (please ensure that these appliances touch the floor barely)
- Check your garbage disposal and have it cleaned
- Clean your dishwasher (wash the filter), furnace filters, clothes dryer (clean the lint filter after every wash), and washer
- Unclog sink drains and bathtubs
- Quarterly
Perform the below tasks every three months:
Test smoke alarms
Test carbon monoxide detectors (Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors can be checked with the press of a button. If there are any defective units, fix those. Also, check if the batteries need to be replaced.)
Unclog bathtubs, sink drains, and clean these
- Annually and bi-annually
Once or twice a year, please ensure that the below tasks are accomplished so that your home is as good as new:
Inspect for termites (Have a certified termite company inspect your home for termites annually. If there are termites that go unchecked, they could damage your home, which could bring down the value of your home in the real estate market.)
Clean refrigerator coils (Clean coils have found to reduce refrigerator’s electricity usage by over 10%. You can do it yourself – make sure to unplug your refrigerator before you start cleaning.)
Inspect your water heater (This should come under the bi-annual tasks – inspect your water heater at least twice a year. Look for sediments to keep the water clean.)
Let us take a look at the list of tasks that you need to accomplish based on different seasons.
Some tasks would need to be taken care of on a seasonal basis. If you skip on any of the seasonal tasks, it could cause damage to your home, leaving you broke at a later time when you try to fix it.
- Spring
- Inspect the air conditioner
- Check the electric lines for any interference caused from foliage
- Clean the entire house and make sure there is not even a single speck of dust anywhere
- Have the CO detectors inspected and check if any batteries need replacement
- Clean the deck or patio
- Clean water drainage and gutters, as needed
- Summer
- Clean your grill (If your home has a grill, clean it)
- Prune trees and shrubs (trimming these regularly would help them from overgrowing)
- Clean your AC filter (Ensure that you are cleaning or replacing your air conditioning filters regularly) to keep the air clean
- Winter
- Cover air conditioner during the winter (Mostly, you wouldn’t be using your air conditioners during the winter. So cover the unit to safeguard it against snow or other debris.)
- Check insulation (Make your home energy-efficient by checking your insulation during the winter.)
- Prune tree limbs (During the winter season, it is normal for tree branches to gather frost or snow and break off. These branches could get heavy and fall on your home or vehicles, causing damage. Look for any branches that could cause damage and trim those.)
- Disconnect garden hose (It is ideal to disconnect and store away garden house to prevent water from freezing within the hose.)
- Autumn
- Inspect your heating
- Look for unused faucets or toilets and flush these occasionally
- Inspect your fireplace for hazards or damages
- Check outdoor water faucets and turn these off
- Test carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors (if needed, replace batteries)
Tell us how you maintain your home on different occasions in the comments section.
If you are looking for property for sale in Lincoln, reach out to our team of consultants.
