Homeownership requires attention to detail and focusing on the small things, including maintenance items. Your home will fall into disrepair if you fail to check up on things throughout the months. Here is the ultimate homeowner’s maintenance checklist.
Deep Clean Common Areas
Kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms—you use almost all these areas every day. With the daily traffic and activity, dirt, dust, and debris accumulate in untouched spaces. It’s vital to deep clean these hidden spaces every few months to maintain a healthy home. Dust is the accumulation of dead skin, dirt particles, and bacteria, so removing buildup from your home instantaneously boosts your home safety.
Since you handle water, food, chemicals, and more in these common areas, wipe away dried debris and wash out deep stains. If you don’t tackle these tasks during a deep clean, you won’t later. When deep cleaning, rearrange furniture, décor, and appliances to get underneath and behind immobile objects—just because your refrigerator doesn’t move doesn’t mean it’s all clean underneath. Plan several hours for each room you plan to deep clean since this is the one time you push yourself to restore your home to pristine condition.
Update Interior and Exterior Décor
As a homeowner, you have both an interior and exterior to decorate. Home décor is essential to reevaluate throughout the year. Always clean your pieces both inside and outside, especially the items that stand outside in the rain.
Consider the decorative aspects of your more foundational elements. Home maintenance includes touching up or repainting walls throughout your home. If you want to set a new tone for your home, then a new coat of paint is the way to go. Assess the state of your brick or siding outside. If you notice cracks or chips, fix them up before water leaks into your walls, and you have a mold infestation on your hands.
Reset Outdoor Spaces
The weather batters outdoor spaces year-round, so you should address these areas often to avoid larger problems. If you have an outdoor space for entertaining guests, wash your outdoor furniture and wipe down dirt-laden surfaces—if you neglect this, pollen, sediment, and foliage will collect throughout the year.
You can then move on to more demanding maintenance projects such as pressure-washing windows and sidewalks, cleaning out gutters, and pruning your landscaping. In fact, pulling weeds, trimming hedges and trees, and refreshing mulch and wood chips is a quick way to boost your curbside appeal. If you lack the tools to handle these tasks, consider hiring a contractor.
As you read through the ultimate homeowner’s maintenance checklist, remember to keep all the necessary cleaning chemicals and power tools ready to go. You may need to start one step back with tool maintenance before you can tackle your maintenance list.
Van Rundell is a writer and author who specializes in transportation, travel, guidance, health & fitness. With over 10 years of experience in the industry as a driver and an entrepreneur, he has seen it all. His tone is professional but friendly with a dash of humor thrown in for good measure. In past, he has been advising, educating and writing about transport for the public and professionals alike.
A qualified fitness instructor with over 5 years’ experience as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor, Van brings his deep knowledge of health and exercise science to his articles on health & fitness.
