A few weeks ago my friend had a fire in her home that originated from her dryer lint. Luckily, no damage was done to her home, but she did end up replacing her stacked laundry system. Several years ago the same thing happened to another friend of mine. I was again reminded that home maintenance is an important and essential and that I’ve been a slacker in taking care of my own home’s preventative maintenance needs. I thought to myself, When did I clean out our lint catcher and the attached tubing? Have I ever done it? Needless to say, the next morning I went online and found directions for how to clean out your excess lint and keep your laundry room fire proof. Who knew how dirty those things could get?

While on vacation a few years ago our water heater burst and began spraying hot water all over our garage with great force. Lucky for us, an observant neighbor (who knew we were on vacation) called the fire department to have the massive water leak shut off. Unfortunately, we did have quite a few things ruined and mold issues because of the scolding water that enveloped our garage. The nice plumber who installed our new water heater informed me that you are actually supposed to clean out the silt from the water heater every 6 to 12 months. Who knew?

It’s easy to get busy with the day-to-day tasks at hand and forget the things that don’t scream for our attention. It’s easy to replace a lightbulb that goes out but how often do we really drain the silt from our water heater? Or replace the air filters in our HVAC? Or do other important home-maintenance tasks?

Below is a list of some of the items that should be done regularly to prevent larger and more expensive problems. Most of these things don’t take much time or money, but can save you a lot of headaches and expense if they make it on your to-do list. (Check out detailed how-to information on http://realestate.adviceandreviews.com)

Question: What do you do to remember to take care of the inner workings of your home? What would you add to the list?

When owning a home there are several things you need to do to maintain it.   The following are a few items sometimes over looked, but must be considered.

1. Furnace filters

2. Water softener

3. Garage door

4. Water filters

5. Light bulbs

6. Microwave carbon filters

7. Sprinkler system

8. Caulking

9. Water heater

10. Smoke alarms

11. Leaky sinks

12. Moisture in bathrooms

13. Dryer lint