Home Maintenance Part 2
Posted by Gail | Filed under Home Buying
If you check around the web, you can find a list of the things most homeowners need to do on a regular basis to keep their castles gleaming. From testing your ground fault circuit interrupter(s) to ensuring your windows and skylights close tightly, checking and cleaning (or replacing) furnace filters, to checking your faucets for signs of dripping, the list of what you have to do to keep your home humming along smoothly can be hugely intimidating, especially if you’re not sure how things work. But ignoring the little things can only go on so long, and then they turn into really big things that cost a lot of money to fix.
A few weeks after moving into my home, it suddenly struck me that as a single woman who hates to climb ladders, I was going to have to figure out how to cope with things like changing furnace filters and replacing light-bulbs in high-up fixtures. I panicked. I hate balancing on a ladder in a stairwell. I just can’t do it. So I put out a call to friends for a rent-a-husband. Annie was the first to respond, offering up her husband as my Sub Hub (substitute husband). He’ll be happy to strap on his tool belt and head on over to Casa Gail whenever I need him.
It might be easier to just let him do everything, but I feel I’ll be failing to provide Alexandra with an appropriate role model if I abdicate my home maintenance to any guy who is willing to strap on tools for me. So I’m making a commitment to DIY. Which means I have to figure out what to do and when … and eventually how.
You can create (or print from the web) a seasonal home maintenance list or you can create a custom monthly maintenance schedule for your home. I like the monthly schedule more since:
a) you can create one that is specific to the home you’re living in, and
b) you can schedule the tasks to be done in an efficient way.
In my last home, I lived on a septic system, had a well and had to cut 3 acres of grass every two weeks. In my present house, I’m on town water, town sewage, and have a postage-stamp lot. The off-the-rack seasonal checklists don’t do a really good job of covering what I need for either properties; my new monthly, customized list will.
Once you’ve listed all the stuff you need to do every month, you should incorporate the biggies into your plan. If your dishwasher will need to be replaced in two years, figure out the approximate cost of the replacement, divide it by 24 (the number of months) and make sure you allocate that portion of your maintenance budget to the dishwasher. If you’re planning on painting the kids’ rooms, installing a new counter-top in the kitchen, or redoing the main floor bathroom, estimate your costs and divide by the number of months remaining until you execute your plan. Now you’re working proactively to keep things in tip shape, and create the environment you want, as opposed to flying by the seat of your pants and hoping you’ll magically come up with the money.
When I moved into my new home, I knew I would need a roof almost immediately. I negotiated the cost of the new roof off the purchase price of the house and then slapped that money into a high interest savings account so that come spring I can have the roof replaced AND pay for it. I could just ignore my sad roof until it starts to leak, but then not only will I have to replace the roof, I’d have to replace insulation, re-drywall ceilings and paint… again!
Now I have to start planning for new carpeting/flooring. Man, it’s always something.
April 21, 2009 at 9:13 am
very good point! to know the basics of DIY in order to keep your house in shape is as important a life skill as knowing how to deal with your money. My husband and I moved into our house a year ago and it panicks me sometimes how little we both know. it s like getting your own car without having had a single lesson. In addition, we re newcomers, so no relatives and very few friends that we don t want to scare off by asking favours! One feels really helpless and in a little community there are no workshops or anything like that available..
April 21, 2009 at 9:29 am
http://www.amazon.ca/Martha-Stewarts-Homekeeping-Handbook-Everything/dp/0517577003
Borrow this book from the library. It is frighteningly detailed re: how to deal with all home maintenance issues and the time cycle for when they should be done.
April 21, 2009 at 10:04 am
It IS always something! Paint, peeling walls, cracks in the walls, weeding, broken floorboard… the list goes on!
I was in for a big shock when hubby had to move to Toronto and leave me behind with a huge (and OLD!) house to take care of. I never realized what a help it was to have him around the house (since he’s not terribly handy either) until he was gone. It was a long, hard winter, and while there were a few crying breakdowns in the driveway, I’ve come out of it a lot stronger and with a lot more “fixit” knowledge. Oh, and a whole new appreciation for hubby!
April 21, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I’m single and I have fixed many things in my home. I to am afraid of ladders, so when I needed to get the light changed or the smoke detector changed that loomed above a staircase of 13 stairs, I called in a pro! I’ve plunged toliets, snaked them too. Cleared clogs out of sinks, fixed screen doors, lubed doors, changed other light bulbs, moved heavy furniture, just bagged up my mom’s old mattress and box spring for removal today. I know when I’m out of my league, but I know how to swing a hammer, use pliers, wrenches, and screwdrivers. I think every woman needs to have some skills to do their things on their own, not limited to the home, but their car. It amazes me how many of my friends who don’t know how to pump gas, check the window washer fluid, the oil or their air pressure. All things that can save you $$$ in the long run.
April 21, 2009 at 12:38 pm
It never ends…. the list of must-do (to keep the structure safe and value of the home stable) and the want-to-do list (to put your own stamp on the house to make it a home you love). Lets face it, new countertops and painting the kid’s rooms is not a need unless you are getting ready to put it on the market…. and it is possible to live with an old dishwasher or even without one if you should be battling your debt instead. But getting a roof, replacing the hotwater tank, fixing plumbing, caring for gutters and the like are non-negotiable NEEDS to prevent much bigger expenses (and loss of property) down the road.
Needs vs Wants differentiation isn’t limited to TV, shoes and vacation purchases!
April 21, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I recently bought an older house and have no hubby to do the maintenance. Ideally you teach yourself one skill at a time when there is no particular hurry to get it done (less pressure to get it right the first time). The first thing you need to do in any place you live is to find out where all the shutoffs are and make sure they work (toilets, sinks, gas, water main etc). You don’t want to find out they don’t work when you have a leak. For instance when I bought my house the shutoff for the bathroom sink took 3 wrenches (I had to borrow these from my dad) and never did completely shut off. Another though is if there is something you don’t know how to do and would like to learn. Pay a contractor to come to your house and do the work. The key is to stick around the entire time he is in your home and have hime teach you while he is making the fix so next time you can do it yourself. Any good contractor will not have an issue with this. There are also many good DIY books (buy or borrow from the library) or demonstrations at your DIY/hardware store for the easy jobs around the house. Your small local hardware store may even explain how to do many of the jobs around the house if you ask as they servive through customer service. Many stores will let you purchase items by the unit (for instance if I only need one linear foot of PVC pipe I wouldn’t have to purchase the whole stick). Good luck and happy learning!
April 21, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I think the best thing any homeowner can do is understand what the job is that needs to be done and how it needs to be done. From there you can and should recognize what you can do yourself and what you need to hire out. Tackling jobs you are just not qualified to do will run your home maintenance costs through the roof. Don’t forget the yard work. We have beautiful big trees in our yard. They are a good part of why we bought the house we did. However, the cost to prune–although only every 2-3 years—is over $500. The first time was a real shock to us–but the size of the trees and the amount that needed to be done were not something we could do ourselves without risking the health of the trees. For safety we needed a professional. We are glad we did, and ultimately, the cost of doing it right the first time is far less than the cost of repeating it–or in our case fixing a house, garage or vehicles that a tree falls on!
Thanks for the timely reminder to check our list again for this year and see what fits in the budget and when.
April 21, 2009 at 2:01 pm
I think the key to living a frugal life is planning. Planning your meals, planning for your anticipated needs, planning for retirement, and planning for your home.
April 22, 2009 at 10:18 am
Thanks for a great post Gail. A couple of years ago, my husband and I bought out first home – we have had a lot of learning since that time (even had to call in a plumber once!), but the skills we are learning will help us for years in the future.
April 26, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Hey Gail, why don’t you call the cutie patootie on DIY Disaster and do a shared show with him. He is really great with showing women how to handle tools etc. and you could learn a lot. Plus show women that power tools give you power (great lesson for your daughter too!!!!)