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Home Maintenance Suggestions
Make every effort to meet the home inspector and go through your new home with that important professional. You will learn a lot about the condition of your new home, have the opportunity to ask for explanations of terms or equipment and establish some sense of priorities over maintenance and repair that is inevitable.
If you can't meet with the inspector, make arrangements to spend some time (and money) together to begin both a regular maintenance program and a preventative maintenance plan for your new home. The inspector and your REALTOR will also be good sources of quality trades and service suppliers in your new community.
FIVE IMPORTANT MAINTENANCE SUGGESTIONS
- Identify all important electrical switches, water turn-off valves and how to operate exterior door locks
- Purchase (if you don't already own) and learn to use several simple, quality hand and garden tools.
- Set a schedule of preventative and protective maintenance procedures (know when and whom to call for help).
- Ask seller, neighbors, and friends now for the names of reliable trades people to call when you need assistance.
- Build a small library of publications to help you learn how to handle many home maintenance jobs yourself.
Few homeowners have even a rudimentary knowledge or interest in electricity, gas, water and other largely "taken-for-granted" utilities. No matter how old or new your new home is, the location, volume and a basic understanding of the primary utilities will be helpful. For example, if you are buying a 2,500 square foot home in a sun-belt area where air conditioning is vital, your electric service should be a minimum of 200 amps simply to handle power demands of the usual major kitchen and laundry appliances, code-approved number of circuits throughout the home for lights, electronics, a dedicated line for your home computer-and a furnace, heat pump and/or room or central air conditioning.
SWITCHES AND SHUT-OFF VALVES
Electric current is distributed throughout the house through circuits that provide current to individual appliances and rooms or areas of your home. Ask the seller to show you the electric service panel and to explain which circuits control the major appliances and all rooms in the house.
- Locate electrical switches for:
- Heating/air conditioning system
- Washer and dryer
- Electric hot water heater
- Furnace (if a hot water system)
- Valves for exterior water bibs
EXTERIOR DOOR LOCKS
If your home was previously owned, there is no telling who has keys to existing exterior locks. Look carefully at the lock hardware on all exterior doors. Is it attractive? Do the style and quality match the structure and is it representative of your personal taste? There is no better time to change keys, at the very least. While changing keys or locks, you may want to consider keying all exterior doors with a single key. A qualified locksmith can handle that job with ease.
If your home has keyed dead-bolt exterior door locks, instruct family members how to use the locks and the location of spare or hidden keys.
Ask for suggestions from your family for the best place to hide keys. Especially ask school kids who are most likely to need them. With lots of new things, people and places to remember, make access to your home easy for everyone from your first day in your new home.
At the same time, check the fit, mechanical operation and reliability of your window locks. Replacing brass or brass plated window locks is easy and inexpensive and the touch of shiny brass adds a sparkle of color to a freshly painted window sash. If you are concerned about unlawful entry through windows, you can install keyed window locks that require an individual key to release the lock before the window can be opened. You will find keyed window locks in large hardware, building supply or home service outlets in solid, polished brass.
IDENTIFY WHAT YOU CAN OR CAN NOT DO, AND WHAT YOU CHOOSE NOT TO DO
It s a good idea to establish a list of what you enjoy and are capable of doing around your home& and those activities and important home maintenance items you want professionals to do.
Most families want attractive lawns, gardens and shrubs around their home, and are happy to do the work themselves. The same applies to the basic carpentry and other home maintenance related tasks. Talk realistically about your property with knowledgeable people at a local garden center. They will recommend what to plant to achieve your objective and tell you how best to maintain optimum appearance over time.
Ask the seller to identify reliable trades people who know your new property and its mechanical, plumbing, electrical systems, and its exterior maintenance requirements.
Ask your REALTOR for the names of local service personnel as will as friends, neighbors and people you'll meet through new-neighbors, school or new religious affiliations.
Be sure to develop your trades people list early& even before you move in, if possible& and before you need help with any simple maintenance problem.
PREVENTATIVE AND PROTECTIVE MAINTENANCE
Spend time as soon as you move in to make your new home safe, and secure. Establish safe and secure locations for tools and any potentially hazardous supplies such as solvents, paints, combustible cleaning materials, and fertilizers. Make it clear to all family members that such materials are hazardous. A minimum home safety check list follows:
- Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in appropriate locations.
- Install appropriate fire extinguishers in cooking and other key locations.
- Most communities' electric codes require Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters in all "wet" locations such as kitchen and bath counter areas. If not already installed, have a licensed electrician install GFCIs in all code required locations.
- Install night lights near stairs, in hallways, bathrooms and the kitchen until you and all family members become fully oriented to your new home.
- Many communities offer fire safety programs to school children. Inquire with your local fire department about such programs and ask for specific fire safety information for your home.
- It is relatively easy to install motion detector lighting outside your new home and your family may find such lights helpful as they return home from work or school after dark.
- Establish a relationship with a neighbor with a sight line on your home. N case of emergency you have another pair of eyes watching your property.
- Explain to all family members the sounds and idiosyncratic noises that exist in your new home that may be different from any previously experienced. Noises heard in the dark of night in a new home can be frightening to children and adults, even if only the sound of water coursing through heat pipes or heated air expanding ductwork as the thermostat calls for more heat in one area of the house.
To protect your new home and its many features begin setting dates on the Maintenance Checklist.
 Download The Home Maintenance Checklist In PDF Form
 Download The Home Maintenance Checklist In Microsoft Word Form
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This article provided for you by Edge Real Estate, 303-681-8888. Reprinted with permission from Homes & Land Magazine. © S.M.A.R.T. Marketing, Inc.
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