Home Maintenance Tips
This useful guide also applies to heritage buildings

So, how do we maintain a house? Is weekly clean and sweep good enough? What? You only spring clean it before annual major celebration? Then, you are walking on a thin line here. A house that is being neglected will seek its revenge by springing its deadly surprise when you least expect it. So, beware.

In terms of maintenance, we divide a house into two major parts: interior and exterior. Interior of the home consists of what is contained within the shell of the house. Exterior means those parts which are exposed to the elements.

For the interior, a typical housewife (or househusband) should be able to maintain its cleanliness by regular dusting. However, you must not forget several things that can befall to the unwary homeowners. Namely, the attack of pests and also the horror of plumbing defects.

Here are some important home maintenance tips you can follow to ensure trouble-free living for your house.

Home maintenance tips to get rid of pests

Normal pests include rodents, white ants, cockroaches and even roosting birds. Trust me, once they come, it is very hard to get rid of them! These insects and animals multiply very fast. The main things that attract your house to them is food and the warmth of your home. One of the answers to get rid of them is to call a pest control company to check your house and its surrounding areas.

The pest control people will advise you what to do and also the manner of "treatment" to get rid of the pests. Another step is to upgrade the cleanliness of the house by making sure food debris and garbage disposal are properly sealed from these animals and insects.

Home maintenance tips to top notch plumbing

Like the veins in our body that carry blood and dispose waste, a house plumbing work the same way. Clean water are carried into our bathrooms, kitchens and toilets for our daily needs. Dirty waste and used up water are carried out, away into the central sewerage system. So, if you have leaking faucets or pipes, please take care to look into it immediately. Otherwise, it can grow into a bigger problem that would cost you a fortune to fix. Water that leaks through the wall or floor can even short circuit your electrical wiring. That is something that nobody wants!

Seeping water from the ceiling caused this rusty socket

Some of the easy repair work can be done yourself. For example, if you have a leaking faucet, what it most probably need is just a new 'O' ring. Remove the old and place a new one. 'O' rings only cost a few cents each. Over time, dripping water will stain the floor tiles or sink, not to mention a larger water bill for you to pay if it is not fixed immediately.

Another thing that always happen is clogged pipes. Pipes are clogged because there are scum, dirt and hair got trapped in them. So, what to do? For one, make it a habit to pick up hair strands at the drainage cover in the bathroom after your shower. For scum, you can buy powdered solution for clogged pipe. This powder is not only useful in an actual blockage, but it can be used to clean the drainage pipe. Use it every three month or so, your drainage would thank you for it.

The wall weeps soap bubbles!

For kitchen sink, considering the amount of fat that is poured into it, do pour boiling hot water to dislodge old grease sticking to the side of the drainage pipe every once in a while.

Home maintenance tips to excellent timber flooring

The trend nowadays of going back to nature makes natural timber flooring very popular despite its high cost. Over time, however, timber shrink and may squeak when you walk over the floor. To minimize this sound, a layer or two fibrous materials or wood chips are placed below the timber batten.

The parquet flooring is
in bad need of replacement

Cleaning timber flooring needs special care too. If you have timber flooring near bathroom or places with a lot of water splashing, take care to minimize its exposure to moisture.

If you have an outdoor deck, please be prepared that because of the shrinking timber, there would be gaps between the floorboards. More expensive pieces of woods are pretreated to minimize this effect. Only an expert can tell if the woods have been pretreated or not. Please get an expert advise to make sure you have your money worth.

Now, home maintenance tips for the exterior. Depending on the type of houses you have, you have to look into several areas.

If you live in an apartment buildings with is managed by the owner, your exterior maintenance should be very minimal. The owner should maintain the areas using the maintenance fees that is paid monthly.

If you have a property with a garden, fence and gutters, it is another story. According to Professional Architect of Malaysia association (PAM), you should allocate at least 5% of the value of your property towards its maintenance yearly. So, if your house is worth RM300K, set aside RM15K for annual maintenance budget.

A typical home with a garden or landscaped areas need to be watered properly. Most people do not realize the watering your lawn too much may cause the concrete next to the soil becoming damp if it is not waterproofed properly. The slabs would dislodge and crack. On the other hand, too little water will also can cause brickwork cracking due to drying and shrinking of the soil. So, in this case, a balance has to be achieved, not too little or not too much.

If there are large trees present in the compound, trim and prune the branches regularly. Rotting branches are really dangerous, they may fall at any time onto other people, your house or your car. Another thing to consider is erecting a root barrier around the roots so that they would not grow and threaten your concrete flooring or foundation.

Home maintenance tips for long lasting roof

The roof is the most important part of the house that is always taken for granted. We are only aware of a roofing problem when water stain appears on the ceiling or big drops of water actually fall in during heavy rain. By then, it would cost a substantial amount of money to fix the problem.

So, how do we maintain the roof? A climb up to the roof is necessary every 4 months or so to check for dislodged tiles (due to very heavy wind), cracked roof tiles or seeds that have taken root and grow between the tiles. Dark water stain will appear if there is a leakage between the tiles.

For metal roof, rust is the main enemy. Holes that appear due to rust will show as rays of light during daytime. Wooden trusses also can rot if there is no proper drainage between the roof down through the gutters. One more thing you must always remember when installing new roofing, make sure that the old truss and supporting beams can bear the weight of the new tiles. Otherwise, an overall makeover is necessary to make your home whole again at the top.

Home maintenance tips for neat fences

Leaning fence due to unkempt trees in the garden

The fence always takes a big chunk out of your building budget. A well maintained fence gives you peace of mind. To avoid fences from falling over or becoming dislodged, same rule applies like for the roofing. Avoid having big trees too near the fence. Drain the bogged down soil near the fence with loose agreegate granites. Trim and prune your hedges regularly. Fix uneven gates and oil the hinges.

Home maintenance tips to ensure trouble-free roof gutters

We used to have tin or metal roof gutters, nowadays, the use of PVC material made rusty gutters a thing of the past. However, for some old houses, metal gutters are still there, and when they rust, they give a lot of problem. They start to leak and pour out water to places where we do not want it.

The rust can be patched with putty, paint or bituminous products. Please consult your hardware store on the best way to tackle the problems or hire a home maintenance company to inspect and repair the damage.

Even for PVC gutters, the drainage can be blocked by dead leaves. It can cause health problems by becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Therefore, roof gutters have to be inspected and cleaned regularly too to avoid much bigger problems in the future. Birds also tend to roost up there. Frequent cleaning would chase them away.

Home maintenance tips to get proper air circulation and ventilation system

A house which is clogged with stale, damp air would deteriorate faster than a good well ventilated home. The reason is because damp air from condensation can affect the plaster of the ceiling and the wall. Unsightly cracks and mold would start to appear. This is especially true for older houses including those heritage buildings. A big budget is required to restore them to their former glory.

Good also to remember that poor air ventilation is also hazardous to your own health.

These home maintenance tips are good as a guide. By following these tips and doing regular inspection, you will save a lot of money in the long run.

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