General home maintenance

[Element4056]

Hi,
Looking for advise on how to be a responsible home owner. Can anyone share their lists of general home maintenance I should be keeping on top of.

Have owned my own home for three years and only actually had the guttering cleaned in the last year, after heavy rainfall blocked and caused leaking in the kitchen! Having rented prior to that, I'm sure there are lots of things I'm missing!

Any advise or guidance is appreciated

Your survey should give you a good idea of what your house needs.

I don't have a list, I'm more of a "fix things when they break" kind of person but I just found this list. I must start doing some of this stuff

hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-managing-2/home-maintenance-checklist/

@Gemma2019 thank you so much for that link- really useful.

Opening windows and doors regularly in winter and summer can prevent a lot of issues so I would definitely get into the habit of that. Things like guttering etc is something I do think most people only really clear when there’s a problem so don’t worry about that. Generally if you can hear your gutters draining it’s time to take a look.

Weeding things that constantly self seed around front walls, garages, sheds, perimeter of house, before they block air bricks/cause minor cracks, etc.

Annual boiler service.

A lot of it is just taking time to properly look at your house rather than always rushing in the front door. E.g. if you have painted wood windows, how’s the paint looking, any flakiness, etc – sanding back, priming and painting is time-consuming but still quicker and cheaper than leaving the wood exposed to rot. Same with felt roofs on sheds: fix them quickly = cheap and easy, vs leaving the problem to get worse.

As well as gutters, check down pipes and drains.

Bleed radiators.

Keep an eye on how fast your bath and sinks drain and clear the U-bend/pour chemicals/do the bicarbonate, vinegar, kettle of hot water thing as necessary.

DP puts little phone reminders in the family calendar for stuff like the dishwasher filter.

I should also point out that cleaning the extractor out is something that may improve general cleanliness in your kitchen as it will improve it’s ability to suck out grease.

Take a look at your roof every so often and check for missing/slipped/damaged tiles. With binoculars if you have them. Check gutters aren’t overflowing. Check drains aren’t overflowing. Check exterior paintwork in good order. Inside, boiler service, air bathroom and deal with mould regularly. Clean oven regularly or else it will get to be a really big job. A lot of things are keeping on top of small jobs so they don’t become big jobs.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to compile all these recommendations, these are so useful and things I have clearly not thought about! I will be incorporating all these tips in my phone as a reminder.

Really pleased I posted as it will be so useful

Make sure the silicon sealants around your shower/bath are intact. It's surprising how a small hole can cause a big leak.

I'll add a boiler service to the list. Better to keep yourself safe by having C0s2 levels checked and parts inspected, cleaned and emptied prevent unnecessary boiler breakdowns.

@burritofan I got a new dishwasher last year and it messages me when the salt/rinse agent runs out and the filter needs changing!

Check smoke alarms

Close and open mains water stop cock so it doesn’t seize up