5 Home Maintenance Tasks You’ve Probably Been Putting Off

There’s something funny about owning a home. You can walk past the same little problem every single day and somehow convince yourself you’ll get around to fixing it next weekend. Then next weekend comes, and there’s grass to cut, ballgames to get to, groceries to buy, and about a hundred other things that seem more important than fixing that dripping faucet.

Before you know it, six months have passed, the faucet is still dripping, and you’ve gotten so used to it that you hardly notice anymore.

I get it. Between work, family, and everything else life throws our way, home maintenance doesn’t always make it to the top of the list. I’ve got a few things around my own house that could use some attention, too.

But after years of walking through homes with buyers and sellers, I’ve learned that the little things we put off can eventually become pretty expensive things. Sometimes all it takes is a little time on a Saturday morning to prevent a much bigger headache down the road.

Here are five things worth checking around your house.

1. Fix Those Little Leaks

A dripping faucet might be annoying, but it’s usually not the drip itself that worries me. It’s the water you don’t see.

A slow leak underneath a kitchen sink, around a toilet, or behind an appliance can go unnoticed for months. By the time you discover it, you might be dealing with damaged cabinets, flooring, or something worse.

I’ve seen homes where what should have been a relatively simple plumbing repair turned into a much bigger project because nobody realized there was a problem.

Take a few minutes to look underneath your sinks and around your toilets and water heater. Check for moisture, discoloration, or anything that doesn’t look quite right. If you find something, don’t just put a towel underneath it and promise yourself you’ll deal with it later.

Get it taken care of.

2. Clean Your Gutters and Check Your Drainage

Living in South Louisiana, we know a thing or two about rain. And when it comes, it doesn’t always come a little at a time.

That’s why I’ve always encouraged homeowners to pay attention to where water goes when it leaves the roof.

Gutters full of leaves and debris can cause water to overflow instead of flowing through the downspouts. And if those downspouts are dumping water right next to the foundation, you’re potentially creating another problem.

But gutters are only part of it. Your yard matters, too.

The next time we get a good afternoon thunderstorm, take a look outside. Is water collecting against the house? Does it drain away fairly quickly, or are there places where it sits for hours?

Not every puddle means there’s a serious problem. But if water is consistently collecting around your foundation, it’s worth investigating.

And please be careful if you’re getting on a ladder to clean those gutters. Some projects are worth paying somebody else to handle.

3. Change Your Air Filter

I probably don’t need to tell you how hard our air conditioners work in Acadiana. We can have the heater running in the morning and the air conditioner running by lunchtime.

One of the easiest ways to help your HVAC system operate properly is to keep up with the air filter.

When filters get dirty, they restrict airflow and can make your system work harder than it needs to. Over time, that can contribute to unnecessary wear on equipment that’s already expensive enough to replace.

How often you should change the filter depends on the type you’re using, your system, and what’s going on inside your house. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations and check it regularly.

While you’re at it, make sure furniture isn’t blocking your return-air grilles and that the outdoor unit has room to breathe.

This is one of those maintenance items that takes just a few minutes but is easy to forget.

4. Check Your Caulk and Weatherstripping

This one isn’t particularly exciting, but it’s important.

The caulk around your bathtubs, showers, sinks, and windows helps keep moisture out of places where it doesn’t belong. Over time, it can crack, shrink, or separate. Once that happens, water can find its way behind walls, underneath flooring, and into other areas you really don’t want it.

Take a look around the wet areas of your home. If you notice gaps or deteriorating caulk, it may be time to replace it.

While you’re checking, look at the weatherstripping around your exterior doors. If you can see daylight around a closed door or feel air coming through, you may be losing conditioned air.

And with the amount of humidity we have around here, there’s no reason to invite more of it inside.

Most of these repairs are relatively inexpensive, especially compared to what they might prevent.

5. Finally Fix That Thing You’ve Been Ignoring

Every house has one.

The door that sticks. The loose doorknob. The fence board that’s been leaning since the last storm. That little piece of trim that’s been sitting in the garage waiting to be put back where it belongs.

You know exactly what I’m talking about.

These aren’t necessarily major problems. They’re just the things we’ve learned to live with because there’s always something else demanding our attention.

Here’s what I’d suggest. Walk around your house this weekend and make a list of the little repairs you’ve been putting off. Don’t worry about getting everything done in one day. Pick a couple of things and start there.

Some repairs are easy enough to handle yourself. Others are better left to a professional, especially if you’re dealing with electrical work or anything that could become a safety issue.

The important thing is to stop letting that list get longer.

Give Your House 30 Minutes This Weekend

I’ve got a challenge for you. Sometime this weekend, take thirty minutes and walk through your house as if you were seeing it for the first time.

Open the cabinets. Look underneath the sinks. Walk around the outside. Check the windows and doors. Pay attention to the things you’ve gotten so used to that you don’t even notice them anymore.

You don’t have to fix everything. Just make a list, decide what needs attention first, and go from there.

I’ve spent enough time helping people prepare their homes for sale to know how quickly those little deferred maintenance items can add up. It’s usually a whole lot easier to address them along the way than to tackle everything at once when you’re getting ready to move.

And even if you have absolutely no intention of selling your home, there’s something to be said for taking care of the place where you and your family spend so much of your life.

Need a Guy? I’ve Probably Got a Guy.

One of the benefits of being in real estate is getting to know some really good people who do really good work. Over the years, I’ve built relationships with plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, roofers, handymen, and all sorts of other professionals throughout Acadiana.

And I know that sometimes the hardest part of getting something fixed is simply knowing who to call.

So if you’ve got something around your house that needs attention and you’re not sure where to start, give me a call. I’m always happy to share a recommendation.

You don’t have to be buying or selling a house to reach out. I enjoy staying connected with the people I’ve helped, and I’m just as happy to help you take care of the home you’re in as I am to help you find the next one.

Now I’m curious. What’s the one thing around your house you’ve been putting off fixing?

Hey Hey, it’s John Ray!