Home Maintenance Checklist for the New Year

Taking care of your home is part of your duties as a homeowner. It is something one must do to the best of their ability in order to maintain the quality and look of their home. As the New Year rolls around, it is important to keep your home in perfect shape, so you can get through the rest of the year with ease. Home maintenance has a very broad spectrum, and if you think about it generally, there can be a lot to remember. Fortunately, having a checklist can help.

By making a list of your home’s weakest areas, you can target everything which needs to be taken care of. Home maintenance checklists often look at parts of your home which require annual or biannual checkups, so that no long-term harm comes to your home. In the case that a fault is discovered, FirstEnergy home repair plans are a good source for repairs and such.

The following is your new year’s checklist for a home which runs like the well-oiled machine you want.

Test Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

One of the biggest threats to your home is a potential fire. A smoke detector’s job is to detect the slightest bit of smoke when a fire is about to start; it then notifies you, so you can take immediate action and protect yourself against impending disaster. The same goes for carbon monoxide, whose spread can be deadly. This is why it is important to ensure that your home has working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors at all times.

You can test if your devices are working every few months to be thorough. If a device is found to be faulty. It must be replaced at once. For larger homes with multiple smoke detectors, the best thing to do would be using interconnected alarms for a quicker detection and update on approaching fires. This is a must-have on your annual home maintenance checklist.

Check the Entrances

Security-wise, a home is most vulnerable at its entrances. This makes them a priority in home maintenance. Your home’s entrances include any areas which provide access inside, such as windows, doors or the garage. By ensuring that they are in the best possible condition, you add a layer of security to your home and make it more comfortable to live in.

The first thing to do is to inspect the physical aspects of your home’s entrances. This means checking the locks and hinges for any signs of damage, and if detected, fixing it immediately. Smart gadgets can be used for improvements as well, for example, adding a smart lock to replace your previous one for increased convenience when answering the door.

Inspect for Air Leaks

At the beginning of the year, it is important to check for any foundational damages in your home. This is because during these months, it is cold outside, which means your home needs to be protected from the harsh weather. To make sure your home remains perfectly comfortable throughout the season, there needs to be a balance in temperature. Air leaks are one of the main faults which can prevent this.

The temperature of your home can be regulated much better if heat is properly trapped inside for a prolonged period of time. An air leak means heat will escape your home much quicker than it should, leading to your thermostat having to work much harder than usual to maintain the temperature.

Clean Out the Garage

A big part of home maintenance is sorting out the unnecessary things overcrowding your home. To clear out this mess, areas such as the attic and the garage may be good places to start. The garage is used as a secondary storage space in a lot of homes. Any objects that cannot find a place in the main house often end up being scattered around the garage, which means starting your new year cleaning there will help make decluttering a lot easier for you.

Outdoor Maintenance

Once you have taken care of most problems inside your home, it’s time to focus on the exterior. Your home needs just as much attention on the outside as it does on the inside. Outdoor maintenance includes repainting the walls depending on weather or water damage, checking the pipes for any signs of damage in the winter, and checking any light fixtures for potential faults.

Garden maintenance is a huge part of making your home look its absolute best, and you should definitely focus on it during home maintenance for the New Year. This is good time to rake the leaves and rearrange your outdoor furniture, provided your garden isn’t covered in snow. This can also be an opportunity to introduce a new watering system for your garden, such as adding a smart sprinkler system for easier watering throughout the year.

New Year, (Good As) New Home

Having all the potentially faulty parts of your home taken care of at the beginning of the year can be very relieving. Home maintenance can be a lot to deal with, but knowing which parts of your home require the most attention is a good place to start. This checklist varies according to the needs of your home; not every living space has the same faults, but the main problems faced are often applicable to every type of home. This list covers these issues to help you get started with your annual home maintenance.

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