Inspecting your home on a regular basis and following good maintenance practices are the best way to protect your investment in your home. Whether you take care of a few tasks at a time or several all at once, it is important to get into the habit of doing them. Establish a routine for yourself, and you will find the work is easy to accomplish and not very time-consuming. A regular schedule of seasonal maintenance can put a stop to the most common — and costly — problems, before they occur. If necessary, use a camera to take pictures of anything you might want to share with an expert for advice or to monitor or remind you of a situation later.
By following the information noted here, you will learn about protecting your investment and how to help keep your home a safe and healthy place to live.
If you do not feel comfortable performing some of the home maintenance tasks listed below, or do not have the necessary equipment, for example a ladder, you may want to consider hiring a qualified handyperson to help you.
Seasonal Home Maintenance
Most home maintenance activities are seasonal. Fall is the time to get your home ready for the coming winter, which can be the most gruelling season for your home. During winter months, it is important to follow routine maintenance procedures, by checking your home carefully for any problems that may arise and taking corrective action as soon as possible. Spring is the time to assess winter damage, start repairs and prepare for warmer months. Over the summer, there are a number of indoor and outdoor maintenance tasks to look after, such as repairing walkways and steps, painting and checking your chimney and roof.
While most maintenance is seasonal, there are some things you should do on a frequent basis year-round:
| Make sure air vents indoors and outdoors (intake, exhaust and forced air) are not blocked by snow or debris. | |
| Check and clean range hood filters on a monthly basis. | |
| Test ground fault circuit interrupter(s) on electrical outlets monthly by pushing the test button, which should then cause the reset button to pop up. | |
| If there are young children in the house, make sure electrical outlets are equipped with safety plugs. | |
| Regularly check the house for safety hazards, such as a loose handrail, lifting or buckling flooring, inoperative smoke detectors, and so on. |
Timing of the seasons varies not only from one area of Canada to another but also from year to year in a given area. For this reason, we have not identified the months for each season. The maintenance schedule presented here is, instead, a general guide for you to follow. The actual timing is left for you to decide, and you may want to further divide the list of items for each season into months.