Home Maintenance Checklist and Schedule

Home maintenance requires regular attention in order to remain safe and habitable. A personalized checklist and schedule that takes into account each property’s specific requirements are key in staying on track with this commitment.

Budget for 1% of your home’s value each year in repairs and replacement costs; however, depending on factors that can influence these estimates.

Preventive Maintenance

Home maintenance involves cleaning, repairing, replacing and inspecting both internal and external aspects of a property to mitigate issues before they develop into large and costly problems. Issues could range from weather related clogged gutters to usage related issues like making sure fire alarms work and walkways remain free from ice hazards.

Preventive maintenance can protect the value of a home while keeping it looking nice, avoiding unexpected repairs and replacements that could arise later. Clogged gutters for instance could result in water damage costing thousands in repairs.

Maintenance can extend the lifespan of appliances and equipment, potentially saving tens of thousands in repair and replacement costs. Every property requires its own tailored maintenance schedule that considers its age, size and current condition as well as personal factors like allergies, pets and children. Furthermore, it’s advisable to include both an everyday budget for routine tasks as well as an emergency fund in case unexpected expenses arise.

Repairs

Home repairs refer to inspections, adjustments or replacements performed to address actual problems that have developed within a home over its lifecycle. Examples of repairs could include alarm system testing and adjustment; changing air filters on heating and cooling systems; cleaning out water treatment components or dryer vents of lint; replacing interior faucet washers and showerheads; vacuuming refrigerator coils; touching up worn house paint or weather seal; clearing rain gutters drains downspouts gutters while emptying them, defrosting freezers before emptying drip pans as well as checking for clogged plumbing as leaking roofs or windows among many others.

Maintaining your property, especially the special features like pools or outdoor patios, requires regular reviews to ensure its upkeep is consistent with their care. This should include determining who is accountable for various maintenance tasks: the owner, landlord, tenant or HOA member – this will allow for clear delineation of responsibilities and help avoid costly mistakes or emergencies down the line.

Renovations

Home renovations are an essential element of maintenance that involve altering parts of a building. Renovation work could involve painting, staining wood and metal surfaces, repairing plaster and masonry surfaces, installing new appliances or systems or even expanding on an existing building to add rooms or spaces to a residence or building.

Renovating is distinct from remodeling; while a remodel changes the structure and layout of an area, renovating seeks to enhance an existing design for aesthetic or functional reasons or greater value creation.

Save for anticipated repairs as soon as you can; opening a savings account can open up options for renovations when they become necessary. It is generally wise to save between one and four percent of your home’s total value each year in an emergency fund to prevent unexpected emergency expenses that may incur significant stress and expense, both financially and otherwise. Regular home maintenance could prevent many of these unexpected emergencies from arising; hiring an established home maintenance service might help too!

Maintenance Budget

Establishing and following through with a maintenance budget can be an invaluable way of monitoring maintenance spending and reporting on it. A maintenance budget helps set an appropriate level of spend per asset/asset group while simultaneously identifying any recurring reliability issues that need attention.

Data generated by these tests can also help in estimating technician numbers, resource allocation, tooling needs and spare strategies – information which will allow for the creation of plans to minimize downtime and ensure its prevention.

Along with having a budget and schedule in place, it’s wise to create a checklist with both indoor and outdoor tasks, like replacing furnace filters, shutting off water spigots before winter begins or re-staining decking boards. Set reminders or add them directly into your digital calendar or to-do list app to make sure these important jobs get done.

Max Anderson, Product Director at home services software company Porch Group, agrees with Max that the 1% rule may not always provide an accurate indication of annual upkeep costs. His experience has taught him that costs vary according to age of house, materials used and climate location.