Helping Your Home Last a Lifetime The Realty Unleashed Way

Your new home is your sanctuary, your newest and safest space and a hub for lasting memories. It may be the space your children grow up in; it may be your grandchildren’s favourite place to visit someday. These are some of the reasons why the longevity of your home is so essential. You will want your investment, both a financial and emotional one, to last a long time, which means you should be checking in regularly with the maintenance of your home to ensure its endurance. Most importantly, regular maintenance of your home is a preventive action you can take to avoid costly adjustments. Realty Unleashed compiled a few helpful tips so you can get excited about home maintenance!

Make a realistic schedule

One of the best ways to stay on top of maintaining your home starts with a schedule. Commit to a regular or semi-regular checklist to keep up with tasks. Plus, this helps avoid having to do many repairs at once: small costs feel better than one lump sum. Your checklist should include tasks for both inside and outside your home. Find an easy to access place to store any supplies you might need so you’re not scouring through bins in your garage. Future You will thank the past You. 

Know when to ask for help

If you aren’t comfortable completing the complicated tasks or you don’t have the patience for the boring ones, reach out to a professional for help. Keep a list of trusted names and numbers, like a plumber, electrical, HVAC tech, roofer, and carpenter. There’s no shame in knowing when it’s time to phone a friend, as Regis Philbin would say.

How’s the exterior looking? 

Take a walk around your home and try to eyeball anything that looks like it is, or could become, problematic. Are your windows properly caulked? Are the shingles on your roof intact? Are your doors opening and closing smoothly? These are a few things to be on the look-out for. When you do the walk-around, bring a notepad so you can write down what you see. When you’re finished with that, you can start to figure out where you need to address the issues.

Clean with a purpose

A clean house tends to last longer than a dirty one. Saturday afternoon chores are a drag for everyone, we get it. But the few hours you spend giving your home some real TLC will make a big difference! Algae, mold, fungus, and moss grow in dirty spaces, and these things can actually eat away at wooden materials. Think flooring, cabinets, baseboards, etc. You can avoid bug infestation with a clean home as well. Insects are notorious for eating away at a home without you even noticing. Steer clear of having things go from bad to worse with some weekly upkeep! Plus, your guests will walk in thinking they’d better start doing whatever it is you’ve been doing.

Observation is key

The beauty of consistent observation is that you will find things worth following up on. A fixable problem is best handled sooner, as it could turn into an expensive one later. For example, peeling or discoloured paint can be a sign that water may be entering your basement. Don’t hesitate to Google some more in-depth guidance or refer back to your trusty list of professional numbers mentioned earlier.

Let’s get physical

Since it’s spring time, we’ve curated a simple SPRING checklist that you can utilize to begin prioritizing your home maintenance. It’s never too early nor too late to start!

• Check your roof for soft spots: Grab a pair of binoculars and check your roof for any broken or missing shingles. If you see that your shingles are missing, you should be making a call to a roof tech. Shingles that are curled upwards can make your roof susceptible to leaks, so you’ll want to get ahead of that.

• Clean your gutters: Flooded gutters can cause a lot of damage to your roof and can also result in flooding in your home. Clean out any leaves, sticks, dirt, or any other debris that can flood the gutter.

• Downspout check: Make sure your gutters and downspouts are directing water away from your house. After a harsh Edmonton winter, there tends to be a lot of freezing and thawing. This can result in gutters expanding, contracting, and sagging. Make sure the gutters and downspouts are flush to your house.

• Inspect your windows and doors: It’s good practice to check in on your windows, doors, and screens after the wintertime. Make sure doors and windows are shutting completely to avoid heat loss. Clean your screens to clear out any dirt or grime that has built up over the winter months. 

There are so many different homes people call their own: detached homes, townhouses, duplexes, apartments, and condos. These spaces’ lifespan is determined by weather, location, climate, and quality of build. While these factors are inevitable, what is perhaps the most vital after this checklist is the actual property maintenance. According to swisslife.com, things like the kitchen, bathroom appliances, paintwork, and floor coverings typically will last anywhere from 10-15 years. While exterior maintenance to condominium properties may be covered by fees, the longevity of what is inside your space is also something to consider.  We start to enter the 30-year mark when it comes to pipes, windows and flat roofs, and then the concrete or bricks of a home generally last between 70 and 100 years. The maintenance of your home will look different depending on the season (we have a whole article about winterizing your home here, which means that it is extra important to be well-prepared and equipped for every season, wherever you might live.