Buying your first home is one of the most critical moments in your life. You are not just buying a house; you are buying a place where you will most likely start a family, and your children will take their first steps. It’s a huge emotional investment. And while that is incredibly exciting, you should not forget that buying a house involves a lot of responsibility. Yes, home ownership requires a lot of work. And if you don’t have any prior experience with it, it can be a little confusing and stressful. There is so much that needs to be done once you buy a home; we will explore that in this article. We made a small home maintenance guide for first-time buyers so that you will know what to do when you finally have your own home.
A checklist for the home maintenance guide
Here are a few things every homeowner must do:
- Deep cleaning everything
- Check smoke and security alarms
- Check your HVAC
- Check the plumbing
- Clean out your garage
- Move the lawn and clean the gutters
Cleaning comes first!
The first thing you should do when you buy a new home is deep clean it. To feel settled in your home, you should clean everything yourself. People used to say that a house is not yours before you clean it for the first time. You will not only make it all nice and tidy, but you will also get to know your new home a little better. By cleaning all the hidden corners and shelves in the house, you will discover all the minor issues around the house you may not have noticed before. This will come in handy as you will know what needs to be fixed. Go room by room and clean everything thoroughly. And not just clean, but disinfect as well.
Check the alarms
Next, you should check if all the alarms in the house are working correctly. You should do this regularly as you don’t want to risk any incidents happening. Check smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. If there are any issues, immediately work on fixing them or replacing them. The same goes for security alarms. Safety always comes first. The last thing you want is for your home to be burglarized and your valuables were stolen. Checking your alarms will only take a couple of minutes, but it will save you a lot of trouble.
Check your HVAC
After you are finished with the alarms, it’s time to check your HVAC system. Mainly you have to check if there are filters that need replacing. If so, take care of that immediately, so you don’t cause even more problems. Dirty filters are awful for your HVAC system. They stop the air from going through and make the air around you dusty and unpleasant. This can be bad for your health, so you should replace your filter between 30 and 45 days. Then check if any parts of the HVAC system need to be lubricated, or any screws tightened. If you seem to notice any more serious issues or if this proves too much for you, the best thing to do is call a professional to help you. That way, you can be sure any potential issues will be fixed.
Check the plumbing
Plumbing is the next thing you should take care of, according to this home maintenance guide for first-time buyers. Bad plumbing systems can be a really catastrophic problem, so it’s best to catch any possible issues on time. You can avoid bigger issues by doing a plumbing check once a month. Start by checking the pipes in your home for leaks. Also, look around for any water stains around the house. One leaky pipe is not a big problem in itself, but if you don’t take care of it on time, it can snowball into a much bigger issue. If you notice anything out of order, it is best to hire a good plumber right away.
Clean out your garage
Let’s now move to the outside of your house. Maintaining the exterior is just as important as maintaining the interior. Start with cleaning out your garage. Over time, things in your garage that you don’t need pile up and make it cluttered. And the actual things you need in your garage, like gardening tools and supplies, get buried under the clutter. It would help if you cleaned out the garage once every six months. In this situation, renting a storage unit is the best solution. And according to experts at Spyder Moving, it is best to hire a moving company to help you with this task, as they will ensure none of your items get damaged during transport to a storage unit. Throw away the things you don’t need at all. The things you don’t need now but will be useful to you later should be stored.
Move the lawn and clean out the gutters
Once you clean the garage, you should move your lawn if necessary or rake the fallen leaves, depending on the season. It would help if you also cleaned the gutters at least twice a year. But in some cases, you might need to do it more often, depending on how often they get clogged.
In conclusion
This is a short home maintenance guide for first-time home buyers, and, as you can see, it is elementary. Most of the things on this list you can do on your own, like deep cleaning, mowing the lawn, and cleaning out the gutters. The key is to act quickly. As soon as you notice a problem, start working on fixing it. And if you feel like you are in over your head, hire a professional, especially if you notice any issues with your alarms or plumbing systems.
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Ed Constable works hard to provide the best experience he can for buyers and sellers, simply because his goal is to be reliable, persistent, and passionate in all areas of life.
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