Home upkeep is essential for maintaining a comfortable and secure living environment. Experts say that cleaner households have better effects on homeowners than those with messy surroundings. This is because clutter triggers one’s stress hormones hindering their focus and productivity. In some cases, it may even lead to irregular sleep patterns causing more risk to their health.
But because of life’s growing demands, these safety precautions could easily be overlooked. Therefore, keeping and following a checklist of home maintenance you can do regularly is a must. In this day and age, keeping your home in tip-top shape and putting the safety of your family on top of your priority list is just as vital.
Inspect your surroundings
Make it a point to have a thorough inspection of your surroundings at least once a month. Examine every corner, especially those that are rarely visited around your property. This includes outdoor storage rooms, basements, attic, and equipment you don’t regularly use.
Check areas with evident pest infestation and immediately call for help from a reputable provider of control service for rodents, termites, squirrels, cockroaches, mosquitoes, and other invasive insects. Ignoring them will only put you at risk by causing food contamination, the spread of diseases, and even fire accidents from gnawing on electrical wirings.
In addition, identify any leaks, cracks, or mold and mildew formation and address them immediately before it worsens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gaps in infrastructure can cause you more harm than good as it serves as a passageway for toxic gases such as radon. These radioactive particles are known to be the second leading cause of lung cancer.
Moreover, if you live around large, aging trees, make it a point to trim down their branches, especially in times of hurricane, heavy snowfall, and other severe weather conditions. While they can beautify your surroundings, add value to your property, and are beneficial to the environment, they can become a liability and put you in great danger in certain situations. Therefore, they need to be inspected, pruned, and maintained regularly.
You should also inspect the garage doors to make sure it’s in an excellent working condition. Daily use can expose it to further damage. Moreover, changes in the weather can make it more prone to rust, which can hurt your wallet even more for its repairs and replacement.
Update your prevention, evacuation, and emergency plans
Take measures to ensure that your house is secured and your supplies will last for at least a week in the event of emergencies. This includes disasters, power outages, and catastrophes. Check your backup batteries, medical kits, escape plan, and alarms and ensure everything is working correctly.
For instance, your home smoke detectors should be tested and replaced every month, and the fire extinguishers should be updated every 12 years unless they were used beforehand. In that case, have a new and functioning one in place and make sure everyone in your household knows how to operate it.
Moreover, keeping a regular inventory of maintenance and cleaning items is always a good idea. This would be helpful after a storm surge and other disasters, as finding essential goods to clean your property may be challenging. Consider purchasing adequate cleaning supplies, such as paper towels, brushes, cleansing wipes, and detergents.
Vacuum the floors regularly
As a general rule, vacuuming your rugs, mats, and floors should be done at least twice a week. Moreover, cleaners equipped with a high-efficiency particulate air filter or HEPA are more ideal. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this air filter can potentially eliminate 99.97% of dust, pollens, molds, germs, and even the smallest particles in the air.
Additionally, having a weekly vacuum schedule helps eliminate pet fur, dander, and other pollutants that cause allergies and irritation at home. Take off your shoes and leave them outside or in one corner before you start cleaning. This will ensure that you keep unwanted elements and contaminants out and not compromise parts that you have already vacuumed.
Homeownership entails more responsibilities than renting a place. When something goes wrong, you have no one but yourself to rely on; thus, you need to devise a concrete plan and regular check-ups to ensure your property’s safety measures are up-to-date.
While it could be challenging, the benefits of investing in the upkeep of your home outweigh the costs, especially in the long run. So, make it a point to take care of the problems early on to prevent them from blowing up further, hurting your home and your savings.
