home maintenance – Modern Architecture Concept

Our homes are our safe reprieves away from the world. In these walls, we get to decide how our world should look, who matters most to us, and what helps us relax!

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Unfortunately, as fun as it is to look at real estate for sale in Whistler or consider buying a home in Toronto, the reality of taking care of a property can be harsh. If you want to stay on top of everything and avoid the pain of getting caught off guard with a huge expense or issue: here are the five home maintenance tasks you should remember.

Test Your Sump Pump

The last thing you want is for your basement to flood the moment you’re out of town. Every four to six months, check to ensure that your sump pump is draining correctly. It takes just a couple of minutes to confirm, and then you can go back to ignoring that it exists. A neglected sump pump can cause a couple of inches of water to build up. That couple of inches of water can ruin carpets, will force mold and damage into drywall, and could cost you tens of thousands to repair: think ahead and check it.

Clear Your Gutters

Gutters have to be cleaned for more than just aesthetic purposes. If you allow leaves to build up, not only does it put you at higher risk of flooding because of low water release, it can cause larger problems. Clogged gutters may force a berg of ice to form on your roof, which may cause leaking, sagging, and possibly even a caved-in roof. Please pay attention to your gutters and either clean them or install gutter covers to block out any debris that would clog them.

Check Your Water Heater

A water heater is the star of any home. Not only does it allow us to take long hot baths, we need it several times a day to wash our hands thoroughly. Check your water heater to ensure it doesn’t need anything changed out or filtered. If you notice new leaks, or anything unsettling, ask a professional to look at it.

Check Your Chimney

Nothing brings cozy and familiar family memories to mind like a warm roasting fireplace. Unfortunately, if you don’t have your fireplace checked out often enough, you could be putting your entire household’s health at risk. Have a professional come in once a year to ensure your opening and closing hatch still work and that nothing is blocking it that could cause the smoke to gather inside your home.

Have Your HVAC System Checked

Although you may think that your air conditioner and heater will work correctly forever, the moment you need them most is usually the moment they give out. To avoid this issue, and give yourself the chance to take care of problems before they happen, have a professional come out to check your systems at least once a year. This task is routine maintenance and will ensure that everything stays in a constant good state. If any problems may happen down the line, a professional will be able to warm you and help you avoid them.

Being a homeowner is pretty self-explanatory, but in reality, there’s much more you need to take into consideration and things you need to do inside and outside the home to make sure everything is working and in good shape.

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The first thing you need to think about is a basic protection and safety. Natural disasters like earthquakes, storms or floods are something you think would never happen to you. Being on alert and preparing your home for such a misfortunate event may sound like paranoia, but on the contrary, it is a necessary precaution and a smart move.

If you don’t think this is too important, there is the monetary element to this story. The damage caused by the water can be very difficult and expensive, and don’t think for a second it could be a fun DIY project. Large-scale water damage requires the skills of an expert restoration company.

The math is really simple here; it is better to be proactive than reactive. In other words, it is better to invest more resources into protection and safety then have much bigger expenses later on in possible water damage repairs.

The text you are about to read will focus more on potential water damage in your home and how to prevent it, so here are some useful tips:

Check your air conditioner

This is something you would probably easily overlook because your air conditioner seems to be working just right. Regular air conditioner maintenance, once or twice a year depending on how often you use it is necessary to ensure that it is working properly.

As mentioned above, the AC unit might be working just fine, but for example, moisture might be building up inside the machine which could leak later on and damage floors, walls or create a nice breeding ground for mold.

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A potential dishwasher leak

The dishwasher is another item in your home that can cause a serious problem if not tended to properly. Your dishwasher might leak directly on your floors if it is not sealed correctly or if the latch is broken or even if you used a wrong detergent. You need to act quickly and make sure all leaks are immediately fixed. Whether you need to repair or replace your dishwasher is open to question depending on the damage.

Leaking washing machine

Yet another check you need to perform to make sure nothing bad will happen when you expect it the least. This consists of checking if all the fittings are tightly secured. You also need to be sure that there are no leaks beneath the machine, big or small. If your washing machine is giving you constant headaches and keeps u you up at night worried, you should definitely consider replacing it.

Leaking pipes

This is probably the most common example of how water can damage your home. One day you discover that you have frozen water pipe or a loose pipe in your kitchen or bathroom which created a pool of water, and damaged all of your home’s decorating. This is the one and the only alarm you would need at that point because a visible leak in one place means that there probably are leaks in other areas of the house as well. You should call a plumber immediately to take care of the damage and to prevent further destruction.

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Choked drains

This problem is annoying but you feel like you can postpone it every time you enter bathroom or kitchen. However, as with other problems with water in your home, you need to deal with this as soon as possible to avoid another domino effect.

The clogged drains are not only irritating and prevent you from using the toilet or the kitchen sink, but they also might cause other issues like water backing up into the bathroom floor, shower or sinks.

Another danger is sewer water backup. The water from the sewer is filled with bacteria and raw sewage and you really don’t want that to spring inside your home.

Each and every one of these situations where water backs up might cause an overflow later on and damage the floors, walls and other surfaces. If you notice that you are experiencing clogs more often than you should then the best way to deal with that situation is to seek help from a professional.