Keeping your home looking and functioning well is crucial, for so many reasons. Let’s look in detail at the importance of regular home maintenance – so you know exactly why your focus needs to be on it all the time.
House maintenance is less than glamorous, but so vital for any property owners to do regularly.
And although it’s easy to say that in theory, it’s less than easy to focus any of our precious time on it.
Not least with preventive maintenance because it’s something that’s really done behind the scenes with nothing to really show for all that hard work.
Let’s delve into exactly what house maintenance is, and give you all the reasons you need to add to your motivation levels (because the benefits are HUGE!).
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 Home Maintenance?
My definition of home maintenance is any jobs that involve upkeep of the good condition of the house by regular inspections, DIY of any repair work (or using handyman services to get them done), and basically maintaining where you live.
It’s about regular maintenance the structural integrity of your home, and any fixtures and fittings. Ensuring it’s safe and secure for you in both day to day life and in emergencies.
It’s NOT things like cleaning, gardening etc… As these are household chores more than maintenance. (Yes – arguably doing chores maintains the home as well, but I like to split them up as they’re easier to manage this way.)
Some tasks that I would consider under the home maintenance category are: –
- Chimney sweep
- Checking smoke detector
- Inspecting roof and gutters for leaks and water damage
- Keeping on top of the Home Inventory
- Energy efficiency checks
- Home renovation to upkeep its structural integrity
- Minor repairs (like fixing cracks in walls)
There are, of course, loads of routine 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 home maintenance tasks listed out for you. It also comes with a free printable to help you manage it all.
6 Crucial Reasons To Maintain Your Home
So know we know what home maintenance is, it’s time to work out why it’s so important to do it.
Knowing the reasons to maintain your home will help motivate you to get its regular upkeep done.
Without having these reasons, you run the risk of letting things slip so that you run into issues (expensive repairs and more significant problems) further down the line.
Because let’s face it, running a home (however big or small) can be daunting to say the least.
In fact – it’s all too easy to let proper maintenance slip to the bottom of the priority list when there are so many other things to do: –
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, a leak in the roof, or a crack in a wall.
Whatever the required repair is – a problem with the house can knock you for six.
Routine inspections will help stop these small problems from getting worse, and avoid more costly repairs.
Because it’s 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.
#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.
Can you afford the day off if things go wrong at home?
#3 – It’s The Most Expensive Asset You Have
You probably made it a priority to buy a property 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 – so you want to make sure that your home value stays solid (and hopefully increases) for any future sales.
And let’s face it – your car is probably the second most expensive asset you have. You probably don’t think twice about getting that regularly serviced and MOT’d.
So why not do the same for your bigger asset as well?.
#4 – It Adds Value To Your Home
If you maintain your property 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 (even if what’s needed is only small repairs, they will assume that it’s larger and costlier than it probably is, and offer accordingly).
#5 – It Minimises The Chance Of Things Going Wrong
If you keep an eye on necessary home repairs 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’m aware of what needs regularly checking.
If you regularly maintain your home, you’ll get to know it so much better, and you’ll naturally feel more secure and safe living in it.
So, I hope you can see the importance of home maintenance clearly now?
It really could save you so much time / effort and stress in the long term when it’s done regularly.
So why not prioritise it and give your future self an easier life, you deserve it!
If you’re ready to get started on maintaining your home regularly, then why not start by creating your very own home maintenance schedule so that you can get things properly sorted once and for all?