Making sure you keep up with your home on a monthly basis is important. Not only for the obvious sake of keeping everything up to date and properly cleaned, but to help ensure you don’t encounter more costs down the road. Addressing any potential issues early and ensuring you are maintaining a regular maintenance schedule is a great frame of mind to keep when owning a home.
Here are 6 things you should ensure you are doing monthly to maintain your home
Inspect, and Possibly Change out HVAC Filters.
Depending on the season and if your home has pets inside of it, you may be able to get away with changing the filters every 2-3 months. However, it is a good idea to check these filters monthly so you have a good idea of what your filters look like in your home and how often they may need changing. A good rule of thumb is, if it looks dirty, change it.
Another great tip is to go with cheaper filters and replace them more often versus going with the expensive filters.
Clean Kitchen Sink Disposal.
You don’t want to mess around with a smelly kitchen disposal. A great practice to get into is to freeze vinegar into ice cube trays and throw them down the sink, this will help to freshen your disposal system. Plus, the ice helps to also keep the disposal blades sharp, helping to expand the life of your system.
Clean Range Hood Filters.
This may be a particularly surprising task if this isn’t something you are used to doing. Don’t be alarmed by what you find under there, use a degreaser from an auto parts store mixed with hot water and let that sit for a few minutes, rinse it off and your filters will be good as new!
Inspect Your Fire Extinguisher(s)
Don’t mess around with fire extinguishers. Make sure that they are easily accessible, that they are not being blocked by anything, and ensure there are no visible signs of wear and tear. Make sure you also check the pressure on the gauge to ensure it is still adequate.
Unclog drains
Drains can be quite a mess if not properly taken care of. Always ensure you are doing your best to not let hair, food, etc flow down the drains. Take time to ensure that your grease is properly disposed of. Looking at your bathroom drains, it’s a good practice to take the time to unclog drains of hair in the washrooms once a month. When looking at all the drains, take baking powder and vinegar and pour down each of the drains and let sit for a few minutes before clearing with water.
Deep Clean
Stick to a regular schedule with your deep cleaning, it will save you time and frustration. Make time to do a deep clean monthly. Look to your filters, baseboard, ceiling fans, and under hard-to-reach places.
While this may seem like a lengthy list, most of the items here don’t take long to complete and once you have gotten into a habit of completing these things, they won’t seem like quite as big of chores. If it has to do with the maintenance of your home and if you are questioning whether something may or may not need to be done, the best advice we can give is to be proactive. Don’t wait, address the issue early and save yourself the hassle later on!
