2020 Home Maintenance Ideas

Home Maintenance For The New Year Hi David, The beginning of a new year is always a great time to address those basic but important home maintenance tasks that may get forgotten throughout the year. This January, when you're packing up your holiday decor or just getting ready to start a new year, take some time to go over these important tasks to help jump start your New Year.

Check Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors Some home systems are vital to ensuring your home is safe, and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are on that list. Often, these systems are only refreshed when they start chirping and causing havoc in your home, but they should be checked multiple times a year to ensure they're working the way they're intended. If the detectors are not hard-wired to your home or plugged into a wall outlet, now is the perfect time to replace batteries.

Take some time and perform a test on every detector, familiarizing yourself with the sound - each alarm sounds different. This is also a good time to check any fire extinguishers you may have in your home. These important safety tools should be checked monthly, ensuring the pressure gauge needle is in the green – if it's not, the extinguisher should be serviced or replaced. The last thing you want is for one of these important devices to fail you when you need it the most.

Change Out Home Filters Several home systems use filters: a furnace, water filtration system, HVAC and heat pumps, and other systems that may be in your home. Whether you're in a sunny climate or a winter one, January is a great time to change out your filters. Filters help keep dirt, debris and other particles from getting into your home, so ensuring you replace them in January guarantees a fresh start for the new year and will help your home’s systems work to their optimal performance. This is also a great time to clean your kitchen’s exhaust hood and air filter, and don’t forget your refrigerator – the beginning of the year is the perfect time to clean behind and below the appliance.

Refill a Water Softener Hard water can be brutal on a home, especially if minerals are allowed to build up over the years. For most homes with a water softener system, the softener is stored out of site, which can mean it can be forgotten. If you have a water softener, now is the time to replenish the salt it needs to function (and for most softeners this only needs to be done once a year). The salt is used to strip out the excess minerals from the water, ensuring your home is free of hard water.

Update a Disaster Kit No one can anticipate a natural disaster but having a disaster kit in your home helps prepare you for the unexpected. In the new year, take time to update or replenish your kit - check dates on any non-perishable food items, restock batteries and water, and add any missing items that will come in handy in case of emergency.

Do a Personal Inventory The holidays can mean a time of new belongings. Now is a great time to do a personal inventory of all your high value items, like electronics, jewelry, or art. If you've added to your personal collections, take a moment to update your records and contact your homeowner's insurance to update your plan if need be. The new year is also the perfect time to go through all your things and get rid of items you don't need or want anymore. Cleaning out clutter not only helps add space to your home, it can also act as a positive change for the new year.

With a new year comes the opportunity to get your home ready for the months to come, and doing these tasks at the beginning of the year will help you remember when you did them. Taking time now to get your home updated will save you time in the future. Here’s to a happy and healthy start to 2020. If you have questions on how to update your home for the year to come, feel free to contact me david@laquintare.com or visit my website davidburke.bhhscaproperties.com. Happy New Year!