Home Maintenance Schedules

Small Investment, Big Payoff

Part Two of Our Home Weatherization in the Pacific NW Series

In part two of our two-part series on home weatherization in the Pacific Northwest, my friend and home inspector, Don Hatch, gives us the benefit of his 16 years of experience, offering his best advice on keeping your home in tip-top condition with minimal effort.

– Lee Davies

The national statistic on the Cash Value of Home Maintenance states, “For every $1 spent on maintenance, up to $ 100 of repairs could be avoided. In my capacity, as a professional Home Inspector, I’ve looked at hundreds of homes in all age ranges, and I have seen literally thousands of dollars of damage to homes that could have been avoided by spending a mere $5 to $ 10 and just a few moments of work.

Here are a few lists of maintenance items you should be aware of, broken down by how often to do them, in order to maximize your benefit:

Monthly Maintenance:

For Homes with Electronic Air Cleaners:

• Remove the 2 filter screens and 2 filter carriages and clean them by hosing them off. Using a brush to (lightly) scrub the screen and cartridges while hosing them off is advisable. The two filter screens can also be put in the dishwasher.
• Electronic Air Cleaners work very well, but only when they are clean, and turned on.

Stove Fan Screens:

Remove the metal stove fan screens and wash them in the dishwasher. Most manufacturers recommend cleaning the filters after every 8 hours of use. This will eliminate grease build-up.

Sink Drips:

Take a few seconds and look under the sinks with the water running (When you’re brushing your teeth or washing the dishes) and look for any drips from the drain, hoses, and shutoff valves. If you have any, PLEASE do not put a bucket under it!

Gaskets are about 30 cents and new hoses are $4 to $6. Hiring a contractor in a few months to repair water-damaged cabinets, floors, or ceilings will cost much more.

Caulking around Showers, Tubs and Toilets:

While you’re cleaning the floors, look at the caulking along the tub and shower. If there are any small splits, gaps or sections that are loose and peeling, re-caulk them.

A squeeze tube of caulk is about $2, and you can use it again and again. Repairing lifting vinyl floors or dry rot damage will be significantly more.

Quarterly Maintenance:

Furnace Filters (Change or Clean):

• Simply by keeping the furnace filters clean you can: save money on your heating bills, cut down on the amount of dust in the house, and extend the life expectancy of the furnace.
• This applies to electric-fan wall heaters as well. Remove the cover and vacuum or clean the metal screen that should be in front of the fan blower. This will also help prevent that dry smell.

Loose Toilets:

Place your foot against the side of the toilet and push on the rim of the toilet with your leg. If the toilet shifts or moves, the toilet base should be removed, the wax ring replaced, and the toilet reset and secured. Also, check for any drips or leaks from the water supply valve.

Gutter and Downspouts:

• Clean out the gutters. Clogged gutters can cause water to back up under the roofing, into the soffits, and the weight can pull the gutters off of the fascias. If the downspouts are tied into a storm drainage system, the downspouts should be turned out of the storm drainage system while cleaning the gutters to prevent debris from clogging the drainage system.
• If the gutters are clogged, water can and will leak out of the gutter through the gutter spike penetrations, leading to rot or damage in the rafter tails. Downspout screens will protect drains against clogging.

Roofing:

Stand back and take a look at the roof, are there tree limbs or debris on the roof? Is there moss growing on the roof? Keep debris off of your roofing and treat moss or have the roof treated. This simple maintenance will add years to the life of your roof.

Seasonal Maintenance:

Gutter and Roof Reminder:

• Autumn leaves, though pretty, can wreck havoc on a roof and gutter drainage system. Roof valleys can trap debris, which can dam water and cause leaking in areas where there is no roof damage. Water weighs 7 pounds a gallon and clogged gutters can weigh hundreds of pounds. This weight can pull the gutters from the rafter tails, which will cause leaking, rot and water damage, costing you $$$$. It may be necessary to clean the roof or gutters SEVERAL times during the fall depending on the trees around your home.

• Trim tree branches 4 – 6 feet away from the roof, winter storms can drag branches across roofing and cause tremendous roof damage.

So much to remember

When it’s all listed out like this, home maintenance can seem overwhelming at first glance, but if you look at the timeline above, you’ll notice these are not things you have to do all the time, but rather things that have their time and season.

I highly recommend that you simply set yourself some reminders throughout your yearly calendar – either programmed into your phone or handwritten on your family calendar.

All things considered, these recommendations take very little time to do and I can tell you from years of inspection experience, if you don’t want to spend the time now, you’ll definitely be spending the money later!

Don Hatch, is the President of PDX Inspect, Home Inspections, Consulting, & Mold Sampling located in Wilsonville. With 12 years in the construction business and over 16 as a “Real Estate Due Diligence Consultant” (aka: inspector/investigator/feasibility analyst), Don has been featured twice on HGTV’s  “My first house,” and is a sought after Trainer and Speaker. You can reach him by phone at (503) 970-5360, online at www.PDXinspect.com or by email at [email protected].