While property maintenance is a concern that no homeowner can afford to ignore, it can be an even more important issue for older homes. Overlooking issues with your home’s roof, foundation or plumbing systems can lead to frequent problems, higher repair costs and potentially bigger problems such as flood damage. A few helpful tips can go a long way towards keeping your maintenance and upkeep expenses from getting out of hand.
Create and Maintain a Maintenance Schedule
With so many different issues and concerns that need to be addressed, overlooking something important can happen all too easily. A maintenance schedule is a very helpful tool for staying organized and on top of things. Forgetting a seasonal inspection or failing to arrange for an annual assessment or service appointment could lead to no end of problems. The New York Times published a maintenance checklist that includes everything from spring tree pruning to changing smoke alarm batteries. So this list is a good place to start creating your own checklist.
Inspecting the Foundation
A cracked or compromised foundation can be a serious problem, one that needs to be addressed as quickly as possible. But typically every house does some settling. Cracks in the foundation can cause basement leaks which can lead to other problems so if you have any concerns you should certainly get a professional to inspect your foundation. Typically this is done during the home inspection done when you purchase your home. However, if you have owned your home for a long time you can still get a home inspection that will tell you what needs to be repaired in order to prevent more serious damage.
Roofing Services and Repairs
While not quite as serious a damaged foundation, a leaky roof is still a maintenance concern that you will not want to overlook. Residential roofing services may be needed if your home has the original roof. Inspecting the state of your roof and assessing its overall condition will provide you with the insight and understanding needed to make more effective maintenance choices and decisions. The lifetime of a typical asphalt roof is generally 25 to 30 years. Metal, slate and tile roofs last longer. If you are concerned about your roof, and you haven’t replaced the original you should consider having someone take a look at it.
Plumbing Issues
Plumbing issues are a very common problem among older homes and properties. Periodic inspection of the system along with routine upkeep and preventative maintenance could save you from having to deal with higher repair and cleanup costs. A burst pipe, faulty fixture or other preventable plumbing issues could end up costing you far more than you might expect.
HVAC Service and Upgrade Options
Maintaining an older HVAC or climate-control system can often be troublesome at some point it will become more trouble than it’s worth. Upgrading to newer-model appliances and equipment may be costly, but the increase in dependability and energy-efficiency that an updated system will provide can be well worth it. Arranging to have the system inspected, scheduling a routine vent and duct cleaning or learning more about various upgrade options can go a long way towards minimizing or outright eliminating many of the most common HVAC maintenance issues or mechanical problems. In addition to outside professional assistance, you should be able to replace your own filters monthly and adjust vents to provide heat and A/C to the proper rooms. Often you will need to adjust them differently depending on the season.
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