Today I wanted to look at the necessary, if un-glamorous!, world of house maintenance – and the reasons why it’s so crucial for everyone to focus on when you own your own home.
Hopefully by the end of this post you’ll be on board with me in how important this aspect of homemaking is, and be excited (a little… fingers crossed!) to get to grips with your own home, once and for all…
What IS House Maintenance?
My definition of home maintenance is any jobs that involve checking, DIY, and basically maintaining(!) where you live. It’s about maintaining the structure, fixtures and fittings – and ensuring your home stays safe, secure and looked after for you in day to day life, and in emergencies.
It’s NOT things like cleaning, gardening etc… – which I class as chores more than maintenance. (Yes – arguably doing chores maintains the home as well, but I like to split them up as they are easier to manage this way.)
Some tasks that I would consider home maintenance are: –
- Chimney sweep
- Checking smoke detector
- Inspecting roof for leaks
- Keeping on top of the Home Inventory
{ RELATED – There are, of course, loads of house maintenance tasks to be done, and this list really depends on your own home, but to help you out, I’ve written a post with 50 tasks listed out for you – and there’s a free printable to go alongside it – hope this helps x}
Reasons Why You Should Do House Maintenance
Running a home, however big or small, can be daunting to say the least. You probably made it a priority to buy a place that had a good structural survey, and that would be a good investment. It was a good investment because it had been maintained properly over the years…
In fact – it’s all too easy to let maintenance slip to the bottom of the priority list when there are so many other things to do: –
- Chores
- Paperwork
- Budgeting
- Decorating
- Life!
But here are the reasons why you should definitely make it a top priority – right now…
#1 – It Can Be More Expensive To Fix Something That Goes Wrong Rather Than Prevent It From Failing
Maybe it’s a burst pipe, or a leak in the roof, or a crack in a wall – whatever the thing is – a problem with the house can knock you for six.
It is usually more expensive to fix once it’s gone wrong – so maintaining your home while everything is right means less cost over the long haul.
{ Helpful reading – How much should you spend on Home Maintenance – article on TheBalance.com}
#2 – It Can Take More Time Once Things Go Wrong
If you regularly schedule in checks and maintenance work on your home you can work these things around your life and your schedule.
Once something goes wrong though, you have to work around IT instead. You may have to take time off work, miss appointments etc.. – and that’s just frustrating to say the least.
#3 – It’s The Most Expensive Asset You Have
Your car is probably the second most expensive asset you have, and this is a very small percentage of the cost of a home – yet I will wager that you regularly get your car serviced and MOT’d.
It should be the same for your home…
#4 – It Adds Value To Your Home
If you maintain it well then prospective buyers will see that, and be more likely to buy it at the right price. A less well maintained home may fetch less than expected because buyers automatically take money off their offer for the perceived work they may have to do to rectify things.
#5 – It Minimises The Chance Of Things Going Wrong
If you keep an eye on your home at regular intervals – then things are less likely to go wrong and there are less chances of costs mounting up as a result.
#6 – It Gives You more Faith In Your Home
I LOVE the fact that we did so much work on our home when we moved in. I now know every wall, every socket, every part of the house – and as a result I feel much more secure in the fact that things have been tackled right. There are less things to worry about, and I am aware of what needs regularly checking.
If you regularly maintain your home, you will get to know it so much better, and you will naturally feel more secure and safe living in it.
have I convinced you that house maintenance is a good idea?
I do hope so, as it could save you so much time / effort and stress in the long term when it’s done regularly.
And if I HAVE convinced you, then I’d love for you to get started on creating your very own home maintenance schedule so that you can get things properly sorted once and for all. Want to learn how? – take a look at THIS POST and let’s get started, shall we!