Becoming a homeowner means getting a crash course in dealing with all the little household maintenance tasks that crop up from time to time. Even new homes aren’t perfect. Occasionally, homeowners have to deal with clogged sinks or squeaky doors. Homeowners aren’t perfect, either, and accidents mean they might suddenly find themselves having to patch a hole in their drywall or replace a damaged floor tile.
There’s always something to do when you own a home. Although many of those things are quick fixes, there are those issues within a home that could make you realize you don’t know where to begin trying to solve them. For many problems, such as a tripped circuit breaker, it’s pretty easy to figure out what went wrong and how to fix them. Yet how do you know where to begin solving a problem such as a drafty room, or a faucet that won’t stop dripping?
Even the most experienced homeowner will encounter one or two of these types of problems from time to time, and it can get more difficult to figure out how to solve them as the house ages and the problems start to compound. A typical homeowner will spend roughly 1 to 4 percent of the value of his or her home each year on maintenance and repairs. This gets to be a much bigger cost as a house age. Chronic problems such as cold floors or excessive dust might seem like minor inconveniences to a homeowner who has lived in the home for a long time and become used to them. However, when it comes time to sell that house, a potential homebuyer might only be thinking of the 1 to 4 percent he or she would have to spend each year and wonder if it might be higher in that house.
Knowing what causes some of the most common problems in a house and understanding how to fix them is extremely important whether a homeowner wants to stay in the home long term or is looking to sell the home at some point in the near future. In many cases, these problems can seem like major, fundamental problems with the home that will require significant repairs or remodeling to solve — but fortunately, that’s not often the case.
For example, a drafty room might seem like the kind of thing that would require an expensive furnace upgrade, or remodeling to solve issues with the airflow through the room. However, in most cases, a drafty room is caused by small cracks or gaps around windows or doors that can be fixed by simply installing weather stripping insulation. If you’re feeling vexed by some common house problems, this checklist could help you find the solutions. Keep this house maintenance checklist handy and refer to it the next time something seems wrong in your home and you’re unsure where to begin in terms of fixing it. Owning a home means you often have to roll up your sleeves and solve a problem yourself. This resource provides a good starting point to evaluate your options.
