Education
Maintenenace
Maintenance of your Home
One you buy a home, Maintenance is a weekly activity. Plan for it. Don’t put of till tomorrow, what you can do today. It will cost you every day, you procrastinate
When buying an existing or new home you have to start planning for maintenance on day One.
I have acquired a list of long term maintenance item for your planning entertainment. This is just a small fraction of possibilities in planning for maintenance. The main thing is start budgeting for future maintenance of your home, even if you buy a new home.
There are a Million Unexpected Maintenance Costs
Forecast for Your Maintenance
Exterior:
| Paint the exterior siding and trim | 10 years |
| Reseal the driveway | 5 years |
| Re-caulk siding/windows/doors | 5 years |
| Roof repair/replacement | 15 years |
| Re-stain the deck(s) | 5 years |
| Seal and re-point brick work | 7 years |
| Driveway/sidewalk settling | 7 years |
| Tree pruning and maintenance | 3-5 years |
| Pressure washing | every year |
| Gutter cleaning | every year |
| Irrigation maintenance | every year |
| Lawn care/flowers | every year |
| Pest control | 3 months |
| Pool/hot tub care | seasonal |
Interior
| Replace carpeting | 10 years |
| Refinish wood floors | 10 years |
| Grout and caulk bathrooms | 5 years |
| Patch and paint walls | 7 years |
| Appliance repair | 7 years |
| Plumbing repair | 7 years |
| Furnace & Air conditioning | 15 year replace/6 months maintenance |
| Upgrade kitchen/bathrooms | 7 years (rotation of each) |
| Wiring upgrades (cable/phone/internet) | 7 years |
| Drain water heater/clean chimney | 2 years |
| Seals Doors and Windows | 10 years |
| Replace filters | 6 months |
| Drain water heater | 1 year |
| Clean Fireplace “Chimney sweep” | 10 years |
| Toilet Seals | 7 years |
There may be additional specific home maintenance items based on other features in the home. My wife and myself started a priority list of project we need to address on the weekends .
It’s important to remember, that neglected Maintenance of your home, affects property value. If you live in the proximity, of close neighbor’s that’s another story.
Many profession real estate appraisers predict that you could lose up to 10% value on your home when and if you try to sell. “If your home is worth the national average of $ 233,000.00 that could be up to $23,000.00.
If you like to tackle your own projects there are numerous books on maintenance of your home.
Home Maintenance For Dummies [Paperback]
