Real Estate
Your Home is Your Castle ~ Treat it as Such!
By Joyce Ruschhaupt,
Broker Associate, Bailey Creek Properties,
Vice President & Director, Plumas Assoc. of Realtors®
It’s not a surprise that 60% of American’s wealth is estimated to be in the home in which they live; so why do we tend to ignore it? Many of us neglect the smallest chores around our homes that take only minutes & cost only a few $$s which will extend the useful lives of costly key components. We have our car’s oil changed, but ignore the furnace filters! Make a goal in 2009 to take better care of your largest investment. Here are a few helpful hints & necessary chores to do each year to protect your home.
- Clean the coils. If you have baseboard heating units that use hot water, clear dust from the coils inside the units to maximize heating efficiency. Clean dust whenever you see it accumulating. If you have a hot water boiler/furnace, you should also oil the pump inside the furnace twice a year. Look for the three spots on the pump designated for oiling. Check in back of & around your clothes dryers & refrigerators, too.
- Check your circuits. Test the performance of the circuit breakers in your electrical circuit box twice a year by flipping them off and back on. If you have a circuit that keeps shutting off with normal daily electrical use, call an electrician. A faulty circuit breaker could indicate a short in the wiring inside your walls.
- Watch out for drips. Check under sinks periodically to look for leaks or water stains that might indicate leaks. Catching a small problem early can prevent water damage and save on your water bill. Use a plunger to clean out sinks and tubs whenever water doesn’t drain normally or go on-line for helpful inexpensive ways to clear drains.
- Be aware of life spans. Water heaters, furnaces, roofs, and other key components of your home should be replaced before they fail, based on their average useful lives. Here’s a general ballpark of the life span for key components:
- Roof: 13-15 years
- Water heater: 7-15 years
- Furnace: 15-50 years
- Wood deck staining: 4-7 years
- Exterior house paint: 5-10 years
- Get to the bottom of things. Check your home’s foundation for cracks or gaps that could let in water or varmints. Also look at the ground around your house. As homes age, they often sink slightly below the surrounding ground. This settling lets water puddle against the foundation and possibly damage it. Doing major landscaping can cause changes to the ground’s pitch that let water flow toward your home.
- Keep the wet out. Water is a major enemy of your house. Check each season for signs of water damage to your home. Flashing, the metal pieces used to seal the areas between roofs and chimneys and around doors and windows, are especially vulnerable to damage by wind or age. Loose flashing can let water seep under a roof or inside walls, which in turn can cause mold.
- Look up. Chimneys take a great deal of weather abuse. Visually inspect them each year for signs of loose mortar or loose or missing bricks. Have the insides of chimneys cleaned every two to three years. Also check your roof for loose shingles or dangling gutters.
- Change your furnace filters twice a year or more. It’s so easy to do but so critical. Clogged filters decrease furnace efficiency which means your furnace is using costly energy and can cause breakdowns which means huge bills later and a shorter life span, too.
- Drain your water heater at least once a year. Sediment will drain out along with the water from the water tank. Removing sediment can prolong the heater’s useful life & save energy.
