Maintenance Checklist

Now that you're becoming a home owner we'd like to share some tips with you. Home ownership is a great achievement and can be rewarding. However, there is some responsibility to owning a home. We'll list some of the things that you can do to help ensure that you have a home that will last a lifetime.

Annual suggestions:

Clean out your clothes dryer exhaust. If you’d like to hire this task out there are quite a few companies who specialize in this area. One of those companies can be found following this link.
Consider draining your water heater. Especially if your home uses a well. Draining your hot water heater helps remove sediment build-up and helps with a water heaters longevity.
Check the grout in your bathrooms and kitchens. Deteriorating grout may lead to breaking tiles and water getting behind the grout causing further deterioration.
If you have sump pumps, check them for functionality. Most sump pumps operate by float. You can lift the float to turn it on.
Check your roof, vents, siding, flashing, and trim for any damage or issues.
Have your HVAC system serviced. A well known company in the Triangle area to contact for this would be Alltech Mechanical Services. Their number is (919) 496-7250.

Semi-Annual suggestions:

Test the water heater’s Temperature/ Pressure Relief Valve (TPR valve). TPR valves are designed to relieve the water heaters temperature or pressure. Make sure the TPR valve is operating as intended for safety.
Clean your refrigerator coils. Here is a helpful Youtube video by Whirlpool.
Clean out your gutters. We recommend cleaning at the end of Fall and at the end of Spring to ensure that your gutters and downspouts don’t get clogged up with debris.
Check the cover plates on your outlets. Make sure that they haven’t been damaged. If they have been they can easily be replaced. Here is a Youtube video that shows how it’s done. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, contact a qualified professional to perform the replacement.

Quarterly suggestions:

Change out or clean your HVAC filters. HVAC filters collect dust and particles and help keep the air that is circulated clean as well as keeping your system running efficiently. This is a must.
Test your smoke and carbon dioxide detectors for functionality. You’ll see a button to press. Just press that button and they should run through a test. If they don’t test properly they may need new batteries. Here’s a Youtube video showing how to replace the batteries.
Test your garage doors auto-reverse. Grab a broom and as the door is closing wave the broom in front of the trip sensor. Once you’re done with that grab a piece of 2×4 and place it on the ground and close the door to test for the contact reverse feature. If either of the tests fail contact a Garage specialist for further evaluation.

Other Considerations:

Have any recommendations or safety concerns in the report attended to.
Have your lawn aerated around the beginning of Spring and the beginning of Fall.
Pressure wash your house from time to time.
Examine your deck for any rotted or rotting boards. If there are areas that are missing paint or deck sealant, touch them up.
Periodically monitor any defects that were listed in the report to monitor.
Clean off pine needles from your roof if they are present.
Trim back trees and vegetation if they start to grow too close to your house. Here’s a link to a company that specializes in tree trimming.
Check your plumbing lines in kitchens and bathrooms for leaks.
Never place fibrous or stringy foods in your Disposal.
When it rains, check to see if there are puddles that stand around your foundation.
Test your GFCI receptacles. The bathroom receptacles are probably all linked together.
If at some point you’d like to remodel or add on to your house contact a General Contractor.

Last But Not Least:

Consider contacting us every year or so for an Annual Maintenance Inspection. We’ll go back over your property just as we did the first time and produce a brand new report to reflect any changes. We look forward to hearing from you.

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