Postponing any necessary routine home maintenance and repair that comes with owning a home, like maintaining operating systems, plumbing fixtures, garage doors and automatic door openers, for instance, can lead to costly repair bills and more repairs later. Examples of deferred maintenance include exterior paint and siding problems, HVAC service, roofing issues, home caulking, and wood deck maintenance.
Mechanical systems and other valuable operating systems within the home will last longer with routine maintenance and professional checkups. Not properly maintaining these can destroy your property values.
There might be situations where postponing repairs is necessary. Determine the best way to postpone the necessary repairs if your situation absolutely warrants it.
Analyze, Then Prioritize
Before anything, take a step back to analyze the situation honestly and impartially. While both a dripping faucet and a cracked window can lead to higher repair costs and more damage later on, one is less urgent than the other, so it is important to consider the consequences of delaying any repair. If a temporary fix can safely fix the issue, also factor in the expected cost variance of the temporary fix.
While a professional might let you patch up a roof if some shingles come off, you can’t postpone a needed roof replacement if the roof leak has caused damage inside the home. Make sure to seek professional advice before making a roof repair decision. Even if you have to patch the roof now, planning ahead for a new roof is a smart choice. Getting bids from different providers and consulting an insurance adjuster, if needed, can help you explore your available options.
In order to save up for a larger-scale job, you might need to get cheaper temporary repairs or establish a payment plan with the contractor. Another option is doing the work in phases over weeks or months. However, it’s important to realize that any interim fix won’t solve the problem.
Make a Schedule
A seasonal checklist should guide you while you are making your schedule. You can find resources to help you compile what needs to be inspected as part of typical seasonal changes, such as checking door and window seals, looking at roof shingles and gutters, inspecting the foundation and siding, replacing air conditioning filters, looking for possible holes or other damage, and checking for leaks in internal faucets and outside hoses.
Having an annual home inspector walk-through can put you at ease and be worth the investment of knowing that your home is safe and sound.
Most homeowners can do DIY maintenance like deep cleaning windows, screens, or changing storm windows. Also, most Hunterdon County homeowners can also handle more complex tasks like power washing the siding and repairing small grout or mortar cracks in the home.
The moral of the story is that putting off repairs leads to a harder, larger-scale, more expensive job later on, so you should set some time and money aside regularly to handle smaller issues before they escalate. This is a smart investment in your biggest asset: your home.
