Annual Home Maintenance Checklist – Homeowners Guide To Keep Their Homes Well-maintained!

The best thing about having a home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come back. You must need this annual home maintenance checklist.

What if you have to come back to a faulty home?

That would seriously affect your living situation.

Homeowners need to realize the fact that it takes a lot to maintain a house, regardless of its size. In fact, experts recommend that one must consider abiding by one to four percent rule. According to this rule, every homeowner should spend at least one to four percent of their home’s value every year on its repair and maintenance.

In fact, according to a recent survey, an average Canadian homeowner spends around 10,200 Canadian dollars every year on home improvements. Not only this, but 11% of Canadian homeowners actually spent more than 25,000 Canadian dollars for their home remodeling project.

Clearly, they want their homes in top-notch condition.

Annual Home Maintenance Checklist

All in all, it is really important for you to keep your home in its best condition for comfortable living. Here’s a list of basic home repairs and maintenance you need to follow to ensure its upkeep.

Don’t forget to take notes.

#1 Clogged Gutter & Drains

You might have spent hours cleaning your home on weekends. From decluttering the extra stuff to cleaning the floors and windows, you practically did everything in your power to make sure your home is sparkling clean.

But did you clean the drains, pipes, or gutters?

Yes, you need to do that too.

You’ll be surprised to know that the gutters and pipes in your house can easily get clogged with leaves and debris. The accumulation of such stuff in the gutters, drains, and pipes might end up hindering the overall operation of the system. Plus, it might even attract disease-causing organisms and pests such as rodents that would love to make clogged gutters their home.

That’s exactly why it is crucial for you to get your gutters, drains, and pipes cleaned at least twice a year. Also, if there are pine trees or other foliage near your home, you might have to get them cleaned once every three or four months.

#2 Uneven Floors in your Backyard

Imagine dealing with bumps or cracks in your driveway or patio. It is definitely frustrating to watch those floors sloping from one end to the other. You should know that slanting and sloping floors are pretty common in old houses, especially the ones located in Edmonton.

Such floors can cause permanent damage to your home’s foundation, especially in your outdoor space. You wouldn’t want that for home. Right?

Thus, it would be smart to contact professionals for such types of problems as they know better how to fix them. They’ll also make sure that the final grading and sodding of your outdoor space is done perfectly. Not only this, but if you are also dealing with water clogging regularly, the experts will also help you ensure the fact that water goes where it is supposed to.

In short, the experts will help you level your floors in your backyard without any hassle. All you have to do is search for terms like Final grade Edmonton so that you can repair your outdoor space according to the norms and plans laid out by the council in your area. Make sure you look for the certified ones with good experience for better results.

#3 Leaky Faucets & Pipes

If your water bills are skyrocketing, then there’s a good chance that those leaky faucets could be responsible for it. In fact, your home’s leaky faucets might also be a threat to the environment.

Believe it or not, the recent report states that an average family wastes up to 180 gallons of water per week which makes it roughly around 9,400 gallons of water annually. Yes, you read that right, and the number is increasing at a tremendous rate.

But the good news is that those leaky faucets in your home can be fixed easily. If you want to take matters into your own hands, then here are some steps you can take to fix the dripping faucets.

1. Use a rag to block the drain. This way, you won’t lose any small parts while dismantling.
2. Use a rubber washer to seal the valve of a compression faucet. And if you are dealing with a washerless faucet, use a new O-ring to fix it.

Also, if you feel that the faucets are beyond repair, then consider replacing them with new ones.

#4 Start Warming up to the Furnace Filters

Several homeowners tend to skimp on the fact that they need to change their furnace filters regularly.

According to industry experts, the replacement must be done once every two months to prolong its efficiency and keep it well-maintained throughout the year.

The only thing you need to keep in mind while changing the filters is to pick the right one for your furnace. It means that you need to take care of the model while purchasing those filters.

Also, you would need to remove the service panel in order to replace the old filter with the new one. Remember, each furnace is different, so it would be best to consult the manual before trying anything.

#5 Faulty Thermostats

One of the other causes for your huge utility bills could be faulty thermostats. Such thermostats use huge amounts of energy which in turn end up skyrocketing your bills.

So, your best bet would be to install a programmable and energy-efficient thermostat.

For this, you would need to turn off the breaker to the air conditioner and furnace. After you are done, you need to remove the old thermostat. Try to keep the wires in place.

Pro tip: You can use the number of wires to determine which thermostat you need to buy.

Whichever thermostat you choose, you’ll be able to control your home’s temperature while keeping your bills in check.

To sum it all up

The key to living in a well-maintained house is to adhere to its needs as soon as possible. Putting up repairs on the back burner might cause your long-term damage.

You should also know that the repair and maintenance of your house depend upon its age. It is simple math; the older your house is, the more maintenance it is going to need.

So, use the repairs and maintenance tips mentioned above and keep your home maintained throughout the year. That was the ultimate plan. Right? Sure, this annual home maintenance checklist would help you.