Red Flags in Your Home That Need Maintenance Now

Red Flags in Your Home That Need Maintenance Now

The following contribution is from another author.

Maybe your home isn’t as bad as the one above (or at least we hope it isn’t), but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need maintenance. In fact, there might even be red flags in and around your home right now that you’ve passed off as an “I’ll do it later” (which means never). Or you’ve seen or heard something in your home that you don’t think is imminently urgent. Not tending to the warning signs in and around your home will only lead to one thing – costly repairs or worse, replacements! For the areas, you need to focus your attention on here are a few things that should strike concern.

Infestations

If you hear things scurry around in the night, it may not always be your overreactive imagination, it could be mice! Infestations come in all forms, and some aren’t so easy to find. Droppings, being bitten, holes in your interior or food packaging could indicate pests too. The only way to really find out is by having a snoop around the corners and crevices around your home. Alternatively, you can call an expert for some professional advice.

Leaky Roof

This may not be noticeable until you take a look in the attic. But if there’s water seeping through to the ceilings and you have no idea where it’s coming from you need to check out your roof straight away and call in a professional roofing company to deal with the damage fast! 

Outdated Decor

Having old fashioned decor isn’t a crime unless the materials and paints used are so old that they could contain lead. If you have an old house, you can purchase lead test papers on eBay to check the door frames, paintwork, etc. If you’re in the clear great! If not, you need to remove it asap otherwise it could have devastating effects on yours and your family’s help.

Moisture Problems

Depending on the scale of your damp problem will depend on whether or not you need expert intervention. If you have a damp basement and it’s affecting the wooden beam foundations of your home, you should urgently seek help. If it’s a bit of mold in the corner of your shower room, you can clean this out with bleach and simply open the windows to prevent water from sitting around the room in the future.

Faulty Alarms

From C02 alarms to fire alarms to burglar alarms. If they’re beeping spontaneously without any sign of danger, you might want to check them out to see if the batteries need changing or whether they need replacing altogether. Your alarms could save your life, and so routine maintenance should be obligatory.

Noisy Boiler

Any weird sounds coming from the boiler area or an extremely low-pressure gauge could indicate problems such as a blocked air vent that needs cleaning.  But to be entirely sure, call in someone who knows about boilers, and of course, get it serviced regularly to make sure it’s safe to use.

Spotting the red flags in your home early could prevent things from getting worse later on down the line. Excessive moisture could eventually resort to rotting wood in your home, and harmful spores polluting the atmosphere. Or a faulty fire alarm could mean you’re alerted when it’s too late if a fire were to occur. So, when you spot a red flag in your home, take care of it asap!

Check out this great infographic about home repairs too:


Infographic Provided by StablWall

 

Author

Eric is the creator of At Home in the Future and has been a passionate fan of the future since he was seven. He's a web developer by trade, and serves as the Director of Communication and Technology for a large church in Nashville, TN (where he and his family are building a high tech home in the woods).