Preventitive Home Maintenance Checkup
Your monthly budget should include money for routine maintenance and repair for the house
and yard, as well as money set aside to accumulate for large, irregular expenses that normally
occur as a house ages. Large expenses include interior and exterior painting, repairs or replacement
of heating and air conditioning units and appliances, floor coverings, and roof surfaces. Housing
experts recommend allowing from 1-3% of the market value of the house each year for maintenance and
repair costs. While all of these funds may not be needed when a house is new, the accumulated amounts
will be needed for large expenses such as re-roofing or heating unit replacement.
Home maintenance is an important factor in providing a healthy, safe environment as well as
continuing protection to a growing financial investment. It is much easier to prevent the
development of unsafe, unhealthy conditions and structural damage than to pay medical and/or
repair bills.
Regular inspections of a house will alert the owner to items needing maintenance or repair.
Assign each area for a particular month in order to break the job into manageable size and ensure
regular inspection of each area. Some areas are easier to inspect and do maintenance work in the
spring, some in summer, and others in fall or winter months. Start at the base of the house and
work upward and inward and include all environmental control systems and services. Please contact
us for a free Preventive Maintenance Checklist.