Avoid Surprises With Our Home Maintenance Checklist

Home Maintenance Checklist

One of the biggest mistakes new homeowner make is not saving for home maintenance and repair.

All homes need maintenance and eventually all homes need remodeling. It's not of question of if, it's a question of when.

Lower Insurance Costs

Your insurance company will often ask for a '4 Point Inspection' when you first get your policy but they can also ask for one before renewing your policy. This inspection is for your roof, HVAC, plumbing system and electric systems so it pays to keep these up to date. 

The easiest way to make sure these home repairs get done is to budget for them in advance.

My advice is to open a separate saving account and call it 'Home Maintenance Account'. Depending on the size and cost of your home you need to save anywhere from $250 - $1000 a month for these maintenance items.

Take Care of Major Systems First

Major home systems like your roof, HVAC, plumbing and electric systems are critical and if not maintained can lead to expenisve emergency repairs.

Make sure your major systems are up to date before planning a kitchen or bathroom remodel. Alternatively some systems could be updated as part of a remodel.

Major Systems to take care of before remodeling or as part of the remodel

• • Roof less than 15 years old and in good shape
  • HVAC System is less than 15 years old
    • It should also be serviced annually by professional
  • Electric system is less than 50 years old
  • Plumbing system does not used galvanized pipe
    • Galvanized pipe corrodes from the inside out
    • Conisder a repipe if your galvanized plumbing is more than 30 years old
  • Doors/Windows should be replaced every 30-50 years

Other Home Maintenance Items To Take Care Of:

These are more regular home maintenance items. Keeping these things up to date helps with curb appeal, resale value.

• • Exterior paintinig every 10-15 years
  • Pressure wash annually and check for woodrot (repair as needed) 
  • Clean gutters twice a year
  • Landscaping well maintained 
  • Driveway free of major cracks
  • Annual pest control check (termites especially)

Budgeting for Home Maintenance

This simple checklist will help you start to budget properly for the expense of owning a home and keeping it up to date so it can serve you and your family for many years to come. I've listed them in order of priority.

1. Roof: Save $125 a month

A shingle roof has a 20 to 25 year lifespan and the average cost is anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 depending on the size and complexity of your roof.

Maintenance:

• You should have your roof inspected every 5 years or so and after every major storm.
• Keep trees trimmed around the roof and blow off any leaves often.
• Don't pressure wash your roof!

2. HVAC - Save $50 per month

Your HVAC system is responsible for almost 50% of your energy bill so it pays to keep it in tip top shape. A typical HVAC system will last for 15-20 years and cost $8000 - $12,000 to replace.

Maintenance

• You should have it inspected and maintained yearly
• Be sure to test the cooling before it gets hot and test the heat before it gets cold.
• Change your filters monthly. You have filters at your air handler and all your air returns.

Option: Add a dehumidifier

In hot muggy climates like Tallahassee the humidity level in your home can make a big difference to you comfort.  You HVAC system is designed to remove humidity from the air but adding a dedicated dehumidifier can help you feel more comfortable at lower temperatures.

A whole house dehumidifier that connects to your HVAC system costs about $5000 and could allow you to keep your AC at a higher temp, say 78 degrees instead of 74. They cost a about $6 a month to operate.

3. HW Heater - Save $10 per month

Your hot water heater will last 8 to 10 years and costs $1000 - $1500 to replace.  If you want to get a tankless hot water heater expect to spend $3000.

Maintenance

• Have your hot water heater drained once a year to get rid of sediment. Draining the tank is easy.

Option: Tankless water heater

The advantage to tank-less is the water is heated on demand so you never run out of hot water. With a regular hot water heater you can run out of water if a lot of people are showering at the same time, depending on the size of the tank. They also take up less space and can be mounted to the outside of your home.

4. Electric service and plugs/switches - Save $10 a month

- unless you own an older home

Older homes might not have grounded plugs and have only 100 AMP service to the electric panel. If that's the case you should consider upgrading your service to 200 amps and if your plugs are not grounded add GFCI breakers to the panel so you can use 3 wire plugs safely though out the house. Upgrading your service costs about $2500 and swapping out all the plugs in your home another $1000 or so. A complete re-wire can cost $18,000 - $25,000.

Maintenance

There is not much maintenance needed for your electric system but you may want to change out light fixtures or add/upgrade plugs and switches occasionally.

Option: Whole House Generator - $3000 - $10,000 one time expense

Since we get regular storms that can knock out power for days a lot of people are opting to get a whole house generator.

Exterior Home Maintenance - The Best Bang for Your Buck

According to Remodeling Magazine's Cost vs Value Report renovations that improve curb appeal have the biggest impact on home value. It also keeps your neighbors happy :).

5. Pressure Washing: Budget $50 a month

Pressure washing your home helps you paint last longer and looking good. It's also a good time to get your gutters cleaned and check your exterior for any woodrot.

6. Exterior Painting: Budget $100 a month

The outside of your home will need some touch up painting every 2 or 3 years. Every 10 years or so plan to have the house completely repainted. If you keep the same color this will cost $4000 - $6000. If you change colors plan for it to cost about 50% more.

7. Exterior Lighting and Security: Budget $10 a month

At the very least you should check your exterior lights once a year and replace the bulbs, make sure motion and daylight sensor are working, and adjust them. You also may want to add lighting or replace old fixtures with modern ones as lighting technology is always improving.

There are 3 kinds of exterior lighting you want to consider:

1. General lighting, typically your porch lights and motion sensing flood flood lights.

2. Task lighting - lighting for areas where you commonly work outside, think grill area, back deck etc...

3. Accent Lighting - path lights, seasonal lights and other accents.

8. Driveway: Budget $10 a month

Aside from pressure washing every few years your driveway really only needs maintenance if it cracks or gets damaged. The biggest culprit for damaged driveways is tree roots and the best solution it to act quickly to get rid of the offending tree.

9. Front Door: Budget $10 a month

Your front door is quite literally the gateway to your home. If you're like a lot of people then you don't use your front door much, you enter thru the garage door, so you may not notice if it's in need of touch ups. Replacing a front door can cost $3000 - $10,000

10. Basic Landscaping and Tree Maintenance: DIY or budget $200-$500 a month

The final step in your exterior home maintenance plan is the landscaping. The main expense is mowing the lawn, trimming hedges and edging around the driveway and planters that is done every week.

Maintenance

Have a tree service do an inspection every other year in February or March. You may want an entire tree removed or more likely, some limbs trimmed. It's also a good idea to keep an eye on your neighbors trees that could threaten your home if they fell during  storm.

11. Kitchen Remodels, Bath Remodels and More

Once you have the basics listed above taken care of you can start to plan the fun projects.... kitchen and bathroom remodels. Another good think to budget for is closet organization. You'd be surprised at how much more storage space you'll have.