The best type of home repair service is one that can provide preventative care for your home. Preventive maintenance helps minimize the risk of more extensive and more expensive problems down the road. It also can help you keep your home in the most valuable condition possible. So when it comes to choosing a repair service, look to a company that can take care of repair needs when you have them and keeps your home in good shape all of the time with preventative home maintenance services.
What Are Preventative Home Maintenance Services?
Experts indicate that the average upkeep spending for a home is $3,192, or about 1% of the home’s median value in the U.S. In many situations, home repair services can help minimize the cost. Sometimes, the best way to do that is with preventative home maintenance services. These services are tasks completed throughout the year to maintain major home systems. They occur before the need to invest in repairs.
A good example of preventative maintenance services is what you do with your car. Most people take their vehicle every 3 to 5 months to have the oil changed, filters replaced, and fluids topped up. It’s what you do to keep the car running properly. If you fail to perform this, the oil thickens with debris. That causes buildup in the engine, putting your vehicle at risk for complications and costly repairs.
The same applies to preventative maintenance for the home. It’s a simple way to keep the home’s systems functioning properly to eliminate problems before they even start. There’s no doubt that this type of maintenance is necessary for a home – but many homeowners put it off or simply don’t have time to manage it. That leads to problems later.
Ask yourself when was the last time you checked the owner’s manual of the major appliances in your home to handle any preventative maintenance requirements? Unfortunately, some appliances limit access to warranty protection if these steps – many of which property owners don’t know about – are not completed.
Related: An Ounce of Prevention, a Pound of Cure
What Is Included in a Typical Preventative Maintenance Service?
There are a few things to keep in mind here. First, you know your home, but you may not know the specific requirements many of the components of your home have to keep them running well. Going back to those appliances, the only real way to know what you need to do is to read through the owner’s manual, create a calendar of the tasks that need to be done, and then perform them on schedule. For example, this could be changing out O-rings, cleaning catch basins, and managing debris buildup.
Knowing what to do is difficult. That’s one of the reasons to turn to a company that offers preventative home maintenance services. They already know what the requirements and needs of your system are. They can create a schedule and get the work done over time, minimizing risks to your home along the way.
Every home is different. A home maintenance provider like this can often tailor the tasks completed to fit your specific needs. That’s a good thing because it means your home is getting the customized attention it needs. Some of the most common components of a preventative maintenance service include the following:
Water Heaters: Flushing the sediment from the water heater helps keep it functioning properly and optimally for energy efficiency.
Dryer Ducts: Removing the dryer duct and cleaning it helps minimize the risk of carbon monoxide build-up in the home. It’s also important for the outtake to be cleaned out. Removing this link may also help keep the dryer working at its best using less energy and keeping its lifespan as long as possible.
Alarms: Most homes should have smoke and CO detectors installed. A visual inspection of them to ensure they are functioning is important. It is also important to ensure the batteries are replaced in these on a routine basis, so they are working properly when there’s a need.
Air Conditioners: One of the most critical preventative home maintenance services is with your HVAC. Maintaining the air conditioner in a home is critical to protecting its lifespan. It’s also important to ensure that filters are kept clean.
These filters can clog up, leading to dust entering the home. They also back up into the system, potentially causing damage to the motor and reducing energy efficiency. It’s also important to ensure the AC condenser coils are clean and free from debris to keep the system properly running. The AC condensate drain line also needs to be inspected to ensure it is free-flowing.
Refrigerators: A home refrigerator is a valuable investment, but it needs routine maintenance to keep it functional. That includes ensuring the water filter is replaced on schedule. It may also need more advanced preventative maintenance based on what the manufacturer recommends.
Range: A home’s range needs care as well. It’s important to ensure it remains clean and that burners and the oven are in good working order. Gas ranges can create dangerous conditions in the home when not properly maintained. Some manufacturers require additional services on top of this.
Plumbing: The plumbing throughout a home is very important to maintain, but many people are unsure what tasks to do. Often, this includes ensuring the faucet aerators are cleaned as needed. It also means inspecting all drains to ensure there is proper flow. There may be the need to clean those drains over time. Professionals can inspect toilets and sinks to ensure all valves are in place and no leaks exist. They can also ensure all faucets and fixtures are in good working order.
Dishwasher: Many homeowners use their dishwasher every day without thinking twice about them. However, they need routine inspection and cleaning, especially the drain filter, to keep them operating at their best over time. Dishwashers also typically need to be sanitized to keep them operating at their best without the risk of mold or mildew growing in them.
Numerous other tasks are needed as well. From the garbage disposal to your home’s exterior plumbing, numerous preventative tasks are necessary for most homes.
Related: How to extend the lives of your appliances
What Is the Value of Preventive Maintenance Services?
Investing in preventative home maintenance services may seem like a hassle. However, there are several ways to see the value of this type of service.
Improving the life expectancy of the home’s systems
Consider an annual physical that you receive when you head in to see your doctor each year. You feel okay, and everything seems to be working well. Yet, you know your doctor will run some blood tests and discuss screenings you may need. The value here is that by taking care of this now, you may be able to catch problems early on, which can, in turn, help you live a longer and healthier life.
The same applies to your home’s main systems. For example, if you do not keep the air ducts clean by replacing filters, it causes a backup of debris to enter the motor and other areas of the system. As a result, your entire HVAC system can become covered in pollen, dust, allergens, and other debris. That makes every component within the system work harder to function. It also leads to less efficiency in the system. The result is often a failure of the heating and cooling system. However, it may be possible to make repairs.
If not, you may need to replace your HVAC system’s failed components. That means replacing these highly valuable systems early, and that’s expensive. When you use preventative home maintenance services, you keep it functioning at its best, reducing the risk of preventable problems later.
Avoiding costly emergency repairs
It’s also likely that this maintenance service completed consistently over time will reduce the need for repairs overall. For example, imagine what would happen if your refrigerator stopped working. You would have found an emergency technician to come out right away to make repairs or chance losing all of the food in the fridge. That’s an expensive loss.
However, emergency repair services are expensive, too. Often, companies charge a significantly higher amount of money for this repair service. If the problem is related to prevention – such as keeping the catch basin clean or maintaining the ice maker, that’s money you could have saved.
Maintaining warranties
Many appliances and home systems require maintenance, such as your heating and cooling system. These systems may come with a warranty. That warranty may provide you with the protection you need for various situations. For example, let’s say the ice maker fails in your fridge. If you maintained it properly and a warranty is in place, the company will likely not charge you (or reduce those charges) because it was a system failure.
However, some warranties have language in them that states if the preventative home maintenance service isn’t done as it should be, the warranty may not stand. That may mean you have to pay out-of-pocket for the repairs.
Having an Expert Maintain Your Home Is Simply Better
Homeowners can handle most of these preventative maintenance tasks on their own. If you have the tools needed, the time, and the experience, it is possible to do the work yourself. However, hiring a professional in the industry to do this for you offers some key benefits.
- Save time: As noted, to complete preventative maintenance, you need to know what tasks need to be done, when to do them, how to do them, and then remember to do them consistently. Many homeowners are busy and lack time to perform these tasks consistently. That’s time you could spend doing something else.
- Save money: Allowing a professional to do the work often helps save you time. You may be able to do the work if you buy the necessary tools, for example. An expert gets the job done right away without concern. Using a professional is likely to save you money in the long term.
- Headaches: Not every project is easy to manage. Sometimes you’ll need help or troubleshoot problems. That’s why having a pro is better. They do the work for you no matter how complex and frustrating it can be.
- Gain peace of mind: At the same time, using a professional also provides you with peace of mind. You know the work is done that needs done. Your home is professionally managed, which means you don’t have to worry about or track the last time you performed one of these tasks. It’s a nice feeling to know your home is in great shape!
- Maintain the home’s value. Should you decide to sell your home at some time in the future, you want to be sure these types of tasks are complete. Your experts will keep track of those tasks. You’ll be able to tell sellers what’s been done and when. Also, keeping your home in good condition helps maintain its value. You can feel good knowing your home is in good hands.
Don’t Wait to Get the Help You Need
If you’ve put off any of the preventative maintenance tasks your home needs, or you’re not just, it’s time to get some help. Doing so helps you ensure your home is as safe and comfortable for you and your family as possible. Choose the types of services you want and need. Then, rely on the pros to get the work done.
To learn more, sign up for our preventative home maintenance services or reach out to us now to learn more. PreFix is ready to help you maintain your home. Contact us today to get started.