Maintaining a home is not an easy task. From making sure your roof does not leak to checking if there’s an infestation in your floorboards, constantly maintaining your house can be both time and financially consuming.
But don’t worry, because you are not alone. Even the super dads and super moms have a hard time checking all the boxes when it comes to home maintenance. Faulty wiring and structural damages might be easily spotted and worked on. But there are still aspects of house care that most people tend to forget.
Along the lines of health, expenses, and security, here are the six most underrated home maintenance aspects that you should know by now:
Table of Contents
HEALTH
Asbestos has been the focus of home maintenance when it comes to keeping your family’s health safe at home for several decades now. Since homes built before the 1990s have high chances of having asbestos, people have been too focused on eradicating it. But as important as that seems, there are still other health hazards that you face daily especially when you’re at home.
- Molds — Molds are known to aid in breaking down plants and animal carcasses outside your house. But they can easily get inside through your doors, windows, and vents. Tiny spores are released by molds and can float in the air until it touches your clothes and shoes or even your and your pet’s skin.
Molds usually grow in damp places like sinks, bathrooms, pipes, basements, and crawl spaces. They can even grow in small partitions between your inner and outer walls.
When ingested, inhaled, or even touched, they can induce asthma, eye infection, compromised immune system, cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder or COPD, and other health complications.
Make sure to get rid of molds in your home as soon as you see one. You can use a DIY mixture of bleach, baking soda, vinegar, and water to eradicate them. Make sure to paint over walls that have been infected to reduce the chances of decontamination. - Water contamination through pipe corrosion and rust — Corrosion usually occurs when chemicals start to dissolve metal in the plumbing. It can also be caused and fastened by the emergence of molds. Rust in your pipes might lead to your drinking water being contaminated.
You can notice if your water is contaminated when the cold water tastes bitter during the first time you’ve turned on the tap. You should also look out for blue-green or green stains in your sink, pipes, or the floor itself.
Contaminated water might cause kidney, liver, and gastrointestinal problems. To avoid this from happening, get your plumbing and walls checked regularly. You should also never forget to replace already worn-down pipes.
EXPENSES
It’s a very simple logic that everyone can easily grasp. If you cheap out on regular checks and maintenance, you’re only setting yourself up for more expensive repairs, or even worse, replacement costs when it eventually breaks down.
- Regular furnace maintenance — Poorly maintained furnaces spend more energy to produce the same amount of heat that well-maintained furnaces can provide. So, if you look at it that way, by constantly checking and hiring furnace repair services in time of need, you are allowing yourself to be free of paying unnecessary electric or gas charges.
- Trees and bushes trimming — Trees and bushes are on this list for a very valid reason. Pests like rodents can use overgrown trees and bushes to climb their way onto a hole in the house. Trees and brushes are also known as a common area where insects converge. Ant colonies can be found underneath bushes and crawl their way into your home. Mosquitoes can also live and lay eggs inside said bushes or hollow parts of trees.
Avoid having to spend more on pest control and fumigation by simply trimming your trees and plants to a point that they will not enter your premises.
SECURITY
Along with your family’s health, their security should also be on top of your priority list. And apart from building an alarm system for home invaders, there are other ways to protect your family.
- Bolts and hinges on doors and windows — Maintaining your doors and windows is a must to ensure that nobody can easily break inside your house in the middle of the night. But apart from getting your windows barred and adding multiple locks on your doors, you should also check on their bolts and hinges.
Corroded hinges are usually easier to break. And with easily breakable door hinges, thieves can just walk in anytime and get whatever they want. It won’t cost you more than ten bucks to buy a set of hinges and bolts. That’s a low amount to pay for in exchange for your family’s well-being. - Smoke detectors and fire alarms — Everyone should have a smoke detector in his or her home for obvious reasons. This is by far, one of the most underrated things in your house that you need to maintain. Not hearing the alarm if ever there’s a fire indoors, can cost you your life. These things are the kind of things you hopefully wouldn’t have to use but you need to function if ever needed.
All in all, home maintenance is not a walk in the park. There are common tasks that you usually do and there are those that might not have ever crossed your mind. But all of them are equally important in ensuring your safety in your house.