Home maintenance tips

Owning a home can be immensely rewarding – but it can also be an ongoing battle. Keeping your home in the best possible condition means developing the right habits – but what exactly are those habits, and how can you develop them?

Let's take a look at a few of the most effective tips for home maintenance.

Seasonal Inspections

When the seasons, change, you should view it as a time for inspecting crucial parts of your home. When winter's on the way, for example, it's a good time to check out the gutters, and make sure that they aren't clogged with leaves. 

The weather at different times of the year will challenge your home in various ways. It's worth being proactive, here: it's a good idea to think about the bad weather before it arrives. For example, if you know that the front door needs to be replaced, it's a good idea to get it done before the temperature drops!

Energy Efficiency

The more energy efficient your home is, the cheaper it will be to run – and the less environmentally damaging it will be. There are several things you can do to improve the energy efficiency of your home.

Of these, the most obvious involve insulation. You might install mineral wool between the joists in your loft, or special expanding foam in the cavity walls. Replacing windows and doors can also be useful in retaining heat. The appliances in your home can also make a big difference. An ageing boiler, for example, might be replaced with a modern combi boiler. Installing a smart meter will help you to monitor your energy usage, and allow you to make better decisions when it comes to your consumption.

Indoor Air Quality

The quality of your ventilation will be instrumental in dealing with excess moisture, damp, and, ultimately, mould. This concern should be built into the fabric of the building. This is a particular danger if you're making modifications to an older building that hasn't been built to cope with modern insulation and glazing.

New homes are often built with energy efficiency in mind, featuring better insulation and modern heating systems – but they also incorporate ventilation and other air-quality measures, like multi-room air conditioning systems. In some cases, you might consider bringing in an electric dehumidifier to deal with the problem.

DIY vs Professional Help

You can save a great deal of money, and get results that are better suited to your tastes, when you go for the DIY approach. However, this is only the case when you know exactly what you're doing. If you're learning as you go, you might end up spending more in the long term.

There are some tasks, like cavity wall insulation, that will almost always require a professional touch. Knowing when to call in the professionals will often spell the difference between great results and poor ones!