Regular home maintenance is the best way to keep your home looking its best, but it can also help you to:
- Cut back on expenses and repair fees
- Boost your curb appeal
- Add value to your home
- Protect your family’s health and safety
As such, it’s easy to see why home maintenance is a major cause of stress for many homeowners, especially when you consider the costs associated with any home maintenance project. In fact, 60% of homeowners are currently delaying essential maintenance and repairs due to money worries.
Fortunately, there are many steps you can follow to take the stress out of home maintenance, saving money while doing so!
Be prepared to get your hands dirty. The easiest way to save money when it comes to essential home maintenance tasks is by being prepared to take a DIY approach (within reason). For example, by brushing up on your DIY skills and reading guides on how to tackle common maintenance issues, you can deal with tasks such as a leaking faucet with relative ease. Not only will this help you to save money, but you’ll also be able to develop skills that you can put to use time and time again when it comes to home maintenance.
However, you should also be smart enough to know when a task should be carried out by a professional instead. It’s not worth putting your health and safety at risk to save a bit of cash, especially as you’re unlikely to do a great job on tasks that are out of your depth entirely, such as extensive plumbing or electrical work.
Prevent problems before they even arise. Another way in which you can take the stress out of home maintenance is by preventing problems before they even arise. While it may seem this way, this task does not require you to be able to see into the future; it simply encourages you to be more aware of the common issues homeowners face so that you’re able to prevent them.
For example, clogged or blocked gutters are an incredibly common maintenance issue, especially during the autumn months. While you may not initially consider a few leaves to be a problem, blockages can lead to a wide range of issues, including flooding. While you can’t control the weather conditions that cause these maintenance issues, you can Find a LeafFilter near you and install a gutter guard, which prevents blockages from happening in the first place.
Put together a seasonal home maintenance schedule. While there are some home maintenance tasks that you’ll need to carry out on a weekly basis, such as routine cleaning, others can be carried out a little more sporadically, often in line with the seasons. For example, the summer months are typically the best time to complete any exterior projects due to the nicer weather conditions.
Encourage your children to pitch in. While the bulk of the responsibilities associated with home maintenance will lie with you and your partner, this does not mean that your children cannot provide assistance here and there. For example, you could assign each child an age-appropriate home maintenance task to carry out each week, such as sweeping the floors, loading and unloading the dishwasher, or simply putting their toys away!
This is a great way to lessen your own workload while also teaching your children to be more responsible. Of course, you may need to offer some incentives when encouraging them to pitch in, such as pocket money or letting them control the TV remote for the evening. The older they get, the more you can trust them to carry out these tasks.
Maintain a clutter-free home. Not only is clutter unsightly, but it could also lead to a wide range of maintenance issues within your home. This is because clutter often masks or hides other maintenance issues, delaying the speed at which you can take action. For example, if your kitchen counters are covered in clutter, you may not notice mold, damp or mildew build-up until it is too late. In addition to this, clearing the clutter from your home is a great way to reduce the amount of time you spend cleaning each week.
Luckily, there are many different ways in which you can combat clutter. For example, you could:
- Encourage each member of your household to clean up after themselves at the end of each day, putting anything they’ve used back where it belongs
- Invest in additional storage options, such as furniture with built-in-storage, shelving units, or even storage pods or units
- Ensuring that you put things away as soon as you have used them
- Avoid being overly sentimental when it comes to holding onto objects you no longer need or use. Remember, you can give them a second lease for life by donating them instead
Final Thoughts.
While it is normal to feel a little stressed out when it comes to home maintenance, it’s important to remember that there are a whole host of ways to get this under control. From taking preventative action to brushing up on your DIY skills, the more you understand the ins and outs of maintenance, the less stressed you’ll feel when issues arise. After all, this means that you will be able to respond quickly and efficiently, keeping your home in great condition.
However, another important thing to remember when it comes to home maintenance is that it is okay to have a home that looks a little less than perfect. After all, you aren’t managing a show home or preparing for an interior design photoshoot – you are managing a family home. That means that it is okay for things to look a little untidy from time to time, provided things don’t get out of hand.
Keeping this in mind moving forward will also help to lower the stress of home maintenance endevours, as you’re able to see the bigger picture a little more clearly.
Do you have any home maintenance tips that help you keep your cool? Share them in the comments below!