Being a homeowner has a number of excellent benefits, including the fact that you have an asset that, for the most part (although it’s not guaranteed, of course), will grow in value as long as you hold onto it long enough. It also means that once you have paid off your mortgage, you can live in your home without having to pay out a lot of money each month. That’s something a lot of people look forward to.

Yet there are issues with owning your own home compared to renting one. The main problem is that you have to take care of all your home maintenance yourself. If you were renting, this would be a job your landlord would do, but if you’re the owner, they are your responsibility. This can be expensive and time-consuming, and yet if you don’t take care of your home, the problems will only get bigger until you have no choice but to deal with them, and by that time, they will be more expensive to get fixed, and they might even have a negative effect on your home’s value. 

This is why it’s good to know some quick home maintenance tips so that you can prevent this problem from happening as much as possible. Read on to find out more because prevention (or at least early detection) is much better than cure. 

Check Your Roof Regularly 

Your roof is the biggest structure within your home, and although it’s not more important or essential than the walls, it’s still crucial, and it needs to be well taken care of. The fact is that your roof will be subject to all the weather and all the different temperature fluctuations. It will be there to protect your home from animals and snowstorms. But through all of this, it will be getting damaged, and its integrity could be weakened. Unless you check on your roof on a regular basis, you might not ever actually know this is the case until the water starts pouring in. At this point, damp and mold can develop, and at the very least, it will be destructive for your possessions. 

If you are able to get up onto your roof at least every six months to check that there are no missing or broken tiles and that it is still structurally sound, you can prevent these problems from occurring because at the first sign of a problem, you can get that problem fixed. 

Of course, the idea of getting out onto your roof is not going to appeal to everyone, and it does require plenty of safety knowledge and equipment. This is why a lot of people prefer to call experts to do the inspection for them. They’ll be able to look safely, and they’ll know how to take care of the problem once they come across it. 

Jet Wash Your Patio 

Due to the fact that it is outside, your patio – or decking – will become dirty. Not only will it become dirty, but it can also become dangerously slippery. Rather than being able to go outside and enjoy the fresh air, perhaps with friends and family, you might actually slip and fall, causing an injury. 

The best way to prevent this is to clean your patio area before the summer season starts. You can make sure the area is protected (if this is decking, you might need to clean it and then reapply some kind of stain to it to keep its integrity), and so is everyone who uses it. Plus, it will look a lot better; the last thing you want is for your backyard to look unpleasant because of a dirty patio, even if everything else looks great. 

Scrubbing your patio with a brush is one option, but that is labor-intensive and time-consuming. Something that will work better is to hire a jet washer. This will push a powerful jet of water onto your patio or deck, which will blast away the dirt, debris, and grime. It’s much quicker than trying to do it by hand and, honestly, it’s quite a fun way to do some cleaning too! 

Service Your HVAC 

Your heating and cooling system goes through a lot – most of the time, it’s going to be working for you, either helping to keep your home cool or ensuring it stays nice and warm. Over time, this hard work means that the unit can get worn out and stop working efficiently. You might not realize this has happened, as if it still seems to be taking care of your heating and cooling needs, why would you think otherwise? 

However, if you notice that your energy bill is gradually getting more and more expensive, it might be down to your HVAC system no longer being efficient. If it takes more energy for it to do its job, you’re the one who will be paying for it. 

If you get your HVAC serviced annually, ideally between summer and winter, this won’t happen. The unit will continue to work in a highly efficient way, saving you money and making your home as comfortable as possible whatever the temperature might be. If you need an HVAC repair, this can be done before the entire unit needs to be replaced, which can be expensive. 

Turn Your Mattress 

A mattress is not a cheap thing to buy – or at least, it isn’t usually. Although there are many areas in which you can save money by buying a cheaper version, when it comes to your mattress, it’s recommended that you spend as much as you can. Remember, you spend a third of your life on that mattress, and it needs to be sturdy, durable, and comfortable. It needs to protect you, not cause you any injury. If you’ve ever slept on a bad or old mattress, you’ll know how painful your neck, shoulders, and hips were the next morning. 

Because mattresses are expensive, you’ll want yours to last for as long as possible, but equally, you’ll want it to be supportive for all that time. There is no point in continuing to use a mattress that is causing you pain just because you paid a lot for it. To make this easier to achieve, you’ll need to turn your mattress. 

Turning your mattress is just what it sounds like; you need to turn the mattress from top to bottom so that where your head was, your feet will now be and vice versa. You don’t need to flip the mattress around at the same time, however. If you turn your mattress once every three months or so, you’ll find it wears more evenly and stays comfortable for longer, helping you get your money’s worth out of it. 

Clean The Chimney

Not all homes have chimneys, but if yours does, it’s essential to have it cleaned annually, even if you don’t intend to use the fire itself. 

Unfortunately, there is no hard-and-fast rule for how often you should clean your chimney, like cleaning it after a certain number of uses or once a year. However, since creosote, the unburned tar vapors produced by a smoky fire lacking sufficient oxygen, can condense inside the fireplace flue and attach to it, increasing the risk of a chimney fire, you can see why it’s important to do it nonetheless. 

A lot of people choose to have their chimneys cleaned when the weather starts to get colder so that, should they choose to light a fire, it’s safe and ready for that. If you don’t use the fire at all after it has been cleaned, it’s still a good idea to have it cleaned the next year as well, because you don’t know what might be inside it, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.