Home Maintenance Checklists

January’s Home Maintenance Checklist

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that you had a great new year and made your new years resolution to maintain your home regularly this year! Maybe not the most glamorous of resolutions, but it will save you money at least!

* Inspect and test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. As a good practice you should change the batteries to each detector every January. Unless of course if your detectors are hard wired in with your electrical system, then you may not have batteries. If you do not have any working smoke detectors, please get some soon. In my opinion you should have one in each bedroom, one in the hallway leading to the bedrooms, and at least one on each level of the house.

* If you do not have working and properly charged fire extinguishers in your home, you should consider putting at least one in the kitchen area and one in the basement/garage area. You should make a plan of action for the whole family to exit safely during a fire. You should then make sure that everybody in the house knows the routine. Remember if there ever is a fire, be sure to get everybody out of the house and call the fire department first, before attempting to extinguish the fire yourself.

* Check and test GFCI outlets. If you don’t already have them you should consider adding GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interruptor) outlets at the exterior, kitchen, bathroom, laundry, and garage areas. Consult an electrician for help with installing these. Have you hired an electrician or other type of contractor in the past?

* Check basement for signs of water penetration including dampness, staining, and efflorescence. Water in the basement is a very common problem. Usually building up the grading around your house will help to keep the water out or at least cut down on the amount. Be sure to read the wet basement article on our HMR site. If you have significant water penetration in your basement, a landscaper or waterproofing company may be able to help.

* Check and replace or clean your furnace filter if applicable. If you have an electronic air cleaner and/or a humidifier on your furnace, consult with a HVAC tech as to the proper maintenance and frequency of care that needs to be taken to keep them in good working order. Depending on the type of filter that you have, you may need to change it monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Your HVAC tech can elaborate further on what is the best schedule for your furnace.

* Since we live in a colder region, be prepared for the cold weather and snow storms. During times of heavy snow, you may be stuck in your home for more than a day or two. Be sure to have plenty of flashlights with fresh batteries and candles for light in case of a power failure. Several gallons of fresh drinking water and food items that do not require cooking are always a good idea. If you have electric heat or have a gas furnace with electronic ignition, you should have an alternate source of heat in an emergency such as a space heater that uses fuel.

* Be sure to have a supply of rock salt to help keep your sidewalks clear of ice to prevent a fall hazard.

Take some time this month to perform these quick and easy steps to keep your house in great shape! Proper care and maintenance of your home is important and these tips can be performed by most people. We do not recommend that maintenance be performed by someone unqualified or incapable. We do not warrant the condition of your home or guarantee that you will have no maintenance problems by following these tips. In as much as we try to compile an extensive list of home maintenance, this in no way is a complete list of items that should be done to a home. If you feel uncomfortable doing any of these suggestions on your own, seek the services of professionals.

Tags: Carbon monoxide, contractors, Fire extinguisher, Home, Home and Garden, home maintenance checklist, home maintenance tips, Smoke detector

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 7:13 pm and is filed under Monthly Checklists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.