Your January Home Maintenance Checklist

Looking to get the new year off to a productive start? We suggest home maintenance! Though the weather outside is frightful, there are a few tasks that should be completed to prep your home for the coming year and prevent costly home repairs down the line. If the thought of spending a Saturday outside makes you shudder from more than the cold, never fear – many of these items are quick and (thankfully) indoors!

Recycle the Tree

If you have a live Christmas tree in your home, rather than simply throwing it away, consider recycling it. If you have a wood chipper, feed it the tree. You can use the wood chips in a compost pile or as mulch around garden beds and shrubs in your backyard or community garden.

Spending a few minutes cleaning up your kitchen now will help prevent a costly new oven or fridge come summer.

Deep Clean Appliances

Your appliances got a workout during the holidays. Now that things have returned to normal, it’s time to get them into shape to ensure they perform at their best throughout the coming year. Set the oven on self-clean. Wipe down the range hood and vent grilles, or save time by dishwashing those components that are metal. Vacuum the refrigerator coils. Change the filters in your water and ice makers. Spending a few minutes cleaning up your kitchen now will help prevent a costly new oven or fridge come summer.

Inventory Your Belongings

The start of the year is a great time to take a moment and inventory your belongings. No one wants to consider a situation where they could lose their belongings to fire, flood or other disaster, but it is better to be prepared and will ease the process of working with your insurance company, should anything happen. A good time to do this is on cold, snowy days when going outside is not an option. Video the entire interior of your home, slowly panning room to room. Also take wide-angle photos of each room from each corner. Also take individual photos of items of value. Electronics, furnishings, rugs and tools are all important to document. In addition to images, compile a record of the item and as much information about it as possible. Brands, serial numbers, measurements and any other key descriptors are all important to note. Documenting ownership is the final step, by recording purchase dates and sources, receipts and any appraisal documentation. If your inventory is compiled digitally, save it to a cloud source so it can be retrieved from anywhere at any time. If it is a hardcopy inventory, make multiple copies and save at least one of them outside of your home or with a family member.

Inspect Your Roof and Gutters for Damage

Winter weather can wreak havoc on your roof. It is important to check your shingles for signs of storm damage. Missing or damaged shingles should be replaced as soon as possible to prevent more substantial damage to the roof. Hanging gutters should also be reattached immediately. To avoid clambering onto the roof during the inclement winter months, inspect the roof using binoculars. If you want to be ultra-modern about it, record the footage with a drone.

Ice dams can also cause trouble down the road if not dealt with promptly. Ice dams are formed when ice melted by a warm attic refreezes over the cooler eaves. Should these ice dams build up, they can prevent water from draining off the roof. If this water backs up underneath shingles, it can cause attic leaks. Removing ice dams is significantly harder than preventing them in the first place. To prevent ice dams, make sure your attic has adequate ventilation so it stays roughly the same temperature as the outside. It is also important to ensure there is proper insulation in the attic and no air leaks that allow warm air to creep into this part of the home. After fresh snowfall, always rake as much snow as you can safely reach without stepping foot on the roof. Finally, make sure gutters are clear and flow freely. If ice dams have already formed on your home, call a professional. The risk of slipping on a slick roof or being hit by falling icicles is not worth the cost of calling someone in.

Now that the whirlwind of the holidays have passed, it’s important to get back into the swing of things when it comes to home maintenance.

Start Spring Plants Inside

If many weeks of winter have you singing the blues, give yourself something to look forward to: spring planting! Plan out your vegetable gardens or flower beds using seed and bulb catalogs. To start seeds inside before moving them to the great outdoors, begin by planting them roughly six weeks before your area’s last frost. If you do not have a backyard or nearby community garden, you can always bring the vegetable garden inside and begin growing your own plants and herbs indoors. This is a great way to get your year off to a nutritious start and help you stick to those resolutions to adopt healthy eating habits.

Now that the whirlwind of the holidays have passed, it’s important to get back into the swing of things when it comes to home maintenance. Whether your welcome mat is outside a two-story single-family home or a chic condo in the city, stay on top of the tasks that will help keep your repair bills low for the next twelve months. Your future self with thank you! Still in the market for the aforementioned condo or single-family home? Contact our team! We’ll happily help you on the path to homeownership in one of our beautiful communities. For more information and to reach out, visit https://shorelineparkcity.com/.