All homes need maintenance done on them every once in a while. Whether this maintenance is routine and preventative or it’s something that you’re needing to do as a result of an emergency, it’s wise to think about a few things before you jump right into taking care of what needs to be done.
To help you in thinking this through, here are three things to consider when performing maintenance on your home.
How Long You Can Put Off The Task
For most things with a home, maintenance usually doesn’t have to be done immediately. However, certain emergencies necessitate maintenance to be done as soon as possible. So when you’ve got maintenance to do, you’ll want to think about how long you should put off the task and what negative impacts your procrastination might have.
According to Emma Diehl, a contributor to HomeLight.com, about 45 percent of homeowners will frequently put off home maintenance that they know needs to get taken care of. But when you put off the wrong project, you could wind up with even more maintenance that needs to be done or a higher cost for addressing this maintenance. On the other hand, if your project can wait, it could also be beneficial to save up the money to take care of things without having to go into debt.
If You Can Do The Maintenance On Your Own
With a lot of home maintenance tasks, you may be able to take care of at least part of the repairs on your own. Even with limited initial skill, with the use of the Internet, you can find out how to fix almost anything within your home. However, there are some tasks that are best left to professionals.
In general, Caitlin Castelanz and Jennifer Noonan, contributors to BobVila.com, share that most homeowners can handle tasks like cleaning out gutters, stopping plumbing leaks, using caulk, painting, and more. But for bigger projects, like those that deal with your home’s structure or foundation, you’ll definitely want to call in a professional to take care of those repairs.
What Other Task You Can Tack On
Sometimes, it’s worth tackling an additional home maintenance task while you’re doing the one that really needs to get done. This could not only save you time, but could also save you money in some cases.
According to the Family Handyman, some of the most commonly forgotten or overlooked home maintenance tasks are things like checking your water pressure, cleaning your refrigerator coils, lubing up your garage door, and removing lint from your dryer. But if you’re already doing some work in those areas, you might as well add on these others tasks, too.
If you’ve got some maintenance that you need to perform on your home, consider thinking about the information mentioned above before you get started.