Being a homeowner can be costly but ignoring problems can be problematic and at times, dangerous. Regular home maintenance is a must if you want to avoid expensive home repairs or avoid selling your home short of the original value.
Upkeep can be endless, from the interior to the exterior of your house, but good care will mean lower house maintenance costs overall. If you are a homeowner or considering becoming one, the ability to perform simple repair checks can save you time and money. Trades website, MyJobQuote.co.uk have revealed the most common home repairs that get ignored and the consequences it can bring.
- Cracks in the foundation
Whilst it is acceptable for a few cracks to appear throughout your home, it shouldn’t be ignored forever. The foundation is the most important part of your house and if it’s not resolved, it can become costly and dangerous overtime. If the crack is more than ¼ inch wide, you should consult a structural engineer as the foundation could become weak and might even lead to a collapse. Smaller cracks can be an entry point for water and moisture to appear and can also lead to insect infestation.
- Flickering lights
If your lights dim when you open the fridge or plug in a socket, it might be a sign of bad wiring or too many appliances hooked to one circuit. Ignoring flickering lights can lead to a dangerous environment in which a fire can break out. The best fix is to ask an electrician to upgrade your wiring and add in more circuits. It might be costly, but it is vital that you protect your house against a fire.
- Dusty fridge condenser coils
House maintenance involves looking after your larger appliances too. Your fridge gets overlooked but maintenance will extend the life span. Fridge condenser coils will look like a metal grid and can be found running up the back of the appliance or on the bottom. Unplug the appliance and use your hoovers crevice attachment to gently dust the condenser coils. Avoiding this can create a build-up of thick dust which can reduce the efficiency by as much as 25%. If you don’t clean the coils every 2 months, the durability of your appliance will decline.
- Leaky faucets
A leaky faucet can add stress to your plumbing and over time can cause drain clogs and overflows. A small leak can be detrimental if ignored, leading to extreme water damage, mould, and costly repairs in the long term. This is because it can result in gallons of water wasted each day of the leak. This is a relatively inexpensive repair to fix, call in a plumber to save from the higher water bills and make sure the problem doesn’t reappear.
- Drafts in rooms
If you feel a draft in any room, it is a sign of poor insulation. The structure of your home is effective at keeping the heated air inside. When you have air leaks around windows and doors, it compromises your indoor air quality and can become uncomfortable. During winter this can become increasingly worse. When a draft is ignored, it can aggravate allergies and increase your heating bills. You can block the draft by using insulation and investing in effective window treatments.
- Damaged guttering
Guttering plays an important role in your roofing system; it collects rainwater from the roof of your house and diverts it away from the roof edge into the ground. Similar to cracks in walls, any signs of wear in guttering shouldn’t be ignored. The issue is commonly caused by moisture getting through the external structures along the gutters of your house. Mould and mildew can grow causing wood to rot and weaken the foundation of your entire home. Guttering, soffits, and pipework should be fixed by an expert to avoid drainage, damp and safety problems.
- Peeling paint
Water is the primary cause of damage to a painted wall; it can be anything from a leaking gutter to splashes from the kitchen tap. The paint peels off when the surface is exposed to a lot of liquid over time, it then detaches itself from the surface, causing cracking and peeling. If peeling paint is ignored, it can ruin your aesthetic and can cause leakages. For a quick repair, scrape off the old paint, sand down the surface and apply two coats of fresh colour.
