Owing a house is everyone’s dream and milestone in life if you wanna call it that. I have been a house owner exactly two years now. Keeping a house in shape for all the years to come is a full time job in itself. I have outlined a few important facts for you, you might want to look out for.
Bleed radiators every year
I have never even thought about how important this is until recently. Obviously during the Summer months the heating wouldn’t be on. We would normally have the heating off between April and September during the year. We have quite a few radiators upstairs which are all being controlled with one dial in the master bedroom. The guest room and landing heating didn’t come on gradually. I figured air may be trapped. Off I went to the local hardware store to pick up one of the special keys. There was actually quite a good bit of water that I had to release. And tada they are now all even again and the upstairs of the house can heat up properly again.
Have your chimney cleaned once a year
In our old house we probably used the fire place a handful. Mainly because I didn’t know how to use it probably and the house was always quite warm anyway. In our new home I am aiming to have the fire on every weekend, if it’s really cold outside that is. As you can imagine using the fire quite frequently, you will have to get a chimney sweeper once a year to clean the chimney. We haven’t managed to do it yet but I will add it to the list.
Clean out the gutters
Particularly when you move into a new build it is important that you get somone to clean the gutters. The first time we did this, we didn’t believe the amount of dirt the guy got out from the time the builders build the house. We got this cleaned again since then so it has become an annual chore now.
Service your boiler once a year
It is very important to have a functional boiler. Every plumber recommends an annual service, same as you would with your car. In our last house we had laminate flooring but in our new home we’ve got underfloor heating so it’s important that this is working correct.
Service your solar panels
Solar panels are so handy during the Summer when you need hot water for a shower or a bath for the kids. It saves you quite a bit of money using them. Not too long ago we got onto a guy who serviced the solar panels. Thankfully we did as it turns out they were not installed properly by the guys who built the house.
Test your fire alarms every month
It is recommended to test the fire alarm each month ( I think it might actually be each week I read somewhere). I’ve heard that newly installed fire alarms/carbon monoxide alarms only have half of the batteries left. We noticed this quite quickly when one of the fire alarms started beeping after a couple of weeks.
Check over the attic
Every now and again the attic should be checked. Particularly when there was bad weather like a storm. It is important that there is no damage to the roof or even a leak.
*collaborative post
Great post, Janine! It’s so important to look after your home – especially if you’ve saved for it for a long time. I always recommend people to clear out their gutters regularly, twice a year if possible. It’s definitely a good idea to do this before the Winter sets in! They can become really clogged with leaves and debris which can cause serious roofing issues.