Wondering what preventative maintenance home owners should be undertaking to keep the house in good nick and to save $$$ on repairs. Please share anything you’ve learned the hard way so I can learn it the easy way.
I am aware of some basic ones like:
* surface coatings on exterior timber
* weeding
* flushing drains with lye
* cleaning mould in bathroom / sinks
* aircon filters
Is there anything else?
Check your roof tiles is not cracked. Clean your gutters
Do you periodically climb the roof to check tiles?
Yes, but recently got a drone to do that.
drone or just climb up to gutter height
Hairline cracks are impossible to detect with naked eye. But that won't stop water getting through during heavy downpour. That was my last house with roof tiles after solar installation. Now a new house with tin roof. Hope will be better.
Once a year.
Totally agree with this. Roof tiles are the worst. Cracks, slipping, lifting. Can cause significant water damage if not noticed.
Change your Smoke Alarm Battery on April 1.
Replace those braided hot and cold water connecting pipes to your toilets and whatever else you have.
Flushing drains with lye?
I think he means caustic soda
Thought op was making bagels in the toilet
bagels in the toilet
Bagels don't use lye. Brezel do. Scheißhausbrezel!!
Lye, caustic, caustic soda, sodium hydroxide, drain cleaner, etc. Just to reduce fat/grime build up in the pipes
I prefer the enzyme based ones. Actizyme.
I do f see the point in flushing pipes with chemicals, unless something is wrong. Either use hot water (kettle hot) or give it a few hits with the plunger every now and then or both.
Rodent control
taKe the bins out once a week.
And bring them in the next day.
Have single storey house and I dust outside the house to get rid of cobwebs and wasp nests.
Fishing for a list for Jim's ( or personal business) Home Maintenance franchise gig?
Haha nah. I was just thinking of non-consumerist ways to save money.
Then maybe see what home maintenance type businesses are offering ? (check out their sites)
People selling a product. I reckon I’m better off just asking people what they do.
@CommuterPolluter: You aren't obliged to buy anything. You're just making a useful list. I presume. Add both, anecdotal/ pro tips.
Maybe even Bunnings has a knowledge base. There's no arm twisting in google.
@Protractor: Yeah I appreciate that. Of course I have done some looking online too but I’m not so sure about the info quality.
I guess where I’m coming from is that if I were to look online I’m sure the pest guy will be writing articles to drum up business saying “now really you should be to hiring a profession to apply a pest treatment every 12 months at a minimum”. So instead I’m asking other homeowners what they think is important.
@CommuterPolluter: Which reminds me>There's a lot of info online about (low toxicity) DIY termite control.It depends on how risky your actual location is, and how thorough you are, as to whether it's for you.
If you DIY rodent baiting consider protecting wildlife from secondary impacts.
@Protractor: Agree with the termite control. Bad neighbours who want to expand their land may plant termites on your property to get rid of you.
@CommuterPolluter: I totally agree on the termite control.
I saved a couple of thousand by skipping termite checks. And they got into the carport.
Repairs to the woodwork cost $8,250.
@kmwa: My daughter was renting a house and kept telling the agent there very odd sounds in the walls, with paint showing odd marks.
They finally sent a pest controller to update the termite stuff… when the pest controller checked it a week or so later, they immediately rang the property manager and demanded they get to the house.
Their bedroom and another room had internal walls ripped out to find them totally riddled with termites.
When they asked about rent reduction, they were told there was another bedroom… Then they got notice to vacate.
Don't mess around with termite protection.
@kmwa: Haha yeah termite control probably not the best example but many of the online articles (or adverticles perhaps) are overly conservative. There’s no incentive to make reasonable suggestions based on risk, rather the incentive is to make overly cautious recommendations. Yesterday I read an article which suggested that everybody should be using a plumbers gauge to check their water pressure at least monthly just to see if their PRV has failed. Maybe I’m way off base here but I’ve never known anybody to do this.
Maintain your garden and remove any pest plants or trees that are known to cause issues with sewerage. We had clay pipes in our old place and no matter how often we put the hose down, it was always blocking. Turned out to be a flame tree 20m away. Once gone, issue resolved.
Doesn't mean no trees, just smarter planning 😉
There's no change, there's no pace
Everything within its place…
Just makes it harder to believe…
If it's on stumps, clean under the house from time to time and make sure there's no water pooling. It can cause all kinds of issues that are very expensive to fix.
Don't have water pooling against the outside walls. You should have a hard surface taking water away from the walls of your house.
But the builder should have told you this.
Check the roof sarking annually to ensure animals like birds and possums haven’t damaged it and started to nest in the ceiling cavity.
Ensure peep holes are not obstructed.
Crawl into the floor cavity to ensure water isn’t pooling under the house (especially after heavy rains).
Crawl into the roof cavity once every six months to ensure nothing weird is going on in there (e.g. water leaks, animals nesting, spiders nesting etc.).
During heavy rains walk around to make sure there are no leaks in the house or areas like the patio due to poor roofing, check if water drainage is working properly.
Check the walls closely in each room for water damage after heavy rains to ensure no water is somehow leaking through the roof.
Check outside walls regularly to make sure there aren’t plants growing inside the walls and through cracks in the mortar.
Check inside walls regularly for mould. Sometimes you might need to use a high powered flashlight to be able to see any. Mould can be prevented by vacuuming every weekend and opening windows daily.
Upon purchase of the house check every level possible [using a spirit level] and keep it in a spreadsheet then re-check every level annually to make sure the house hasn’t shifted.
Walk around every room and inspect all the joinery for cracks and patch them up before they get worse.
These are just things off the top of my head. Most things you could do annually. If you spread it out it’s probably one day a month where you do a preventative maintenance check. Or just let it rot like most people do.
I keep both the peep and weep holes clear
LMAO. Clearly a Freudian slip…
Going around with a spirit level seems a bit full on but from the tales of woe I’ve heard not a bad idea either. Setting up a spreadsheet schedule is a good idea.
If anyone buys a house built post covid, you have more troubles ahead than levels. Good luck
If there are any holes in the internal walls, avoid peeing in them if possible.
What about holes in external walls?
I would avoid peeing in them too. Definitely don't pee in them more than 100 times per month.
keeping gutters clean
change anode in hot water tank every 5 years