First-time homeownership is a major milestone, bringing both excitement and significant responsibilities. Crucially, proactive home maintenance is essential for protecting your investment, ensuring safety, and preventing costly, unforeseen repairs. It is an essential part of responsible homeownership that goes far beyond just a simple checklist.
While new homeowners may be confused by the amount of upkeep necessary, creating a simple, regular maintenance routine allows for easy task management and provides peace of mind. This checklist outlines vital DIY maintenance duties categorised by monthly, seasonal, and annual timelines, aiming to maintain the smooth and efficient operation of your new home over time.
If you are also moving to your new house, here is a DIY home maintenance checklist for you.
Change your locks: Changing your locks is an important initial task when moving into a new home for security reasons. This includes all entry points like the back door and garage, as previous occupants, their family, or workers could have copies. Even in new buildings, developers may have a master key, and it’s best to ensure you are the only one with access. It is a simple and relatively inexpensive way to protect your home and belongings from unauthorised entry.
Clean your home exterior and gutters: Cleaning the exterior of your home, especially the gutters, is crucial for maintaining curb appeal and preventing serious issues like water damage, roof collapse, and mould growth. It is advisable to clear your gutters at least twice a year, especially during fall and spring.
Paint the walls: Incorporating painting into your moving checklist is an excellent idea. It allows for a fresh start, a personalised space, and improved aesthetic appeal by changing outdated or damaged paint to better suit your taste. This can also help in revealing underlying issues like cracks, nail pops, or areas needing repairs, allowing you to address them before fully settling in.
Get a small toolkit: To prepare for minor repairs in your first house, you can start building a collection of basic tools, including a hammer, screwdrivers and pliers. These items will help you tackle common household tasks and minor emergencies. You can store them in a dedicated toolbox to keep them organised and easily accessible. You can perform various tasks with common household tools, like tightening loose joints, hanging pictures and mirrors, installing shelves or curtain rods and assembling furniture.
Clean refrigerator coils: Cleaning your refrigerator’s coils is one of the crucial home maintenance tips. It is an important step for energy efficiency, longevity and reduced energy costs. Every six months to one year, unplug the refrigerator and use a coil-cleaning brush or a vacuum with a hose attachment to remove dust and dirt from the coils, which are usually located at the back or bottom of the appliance.
Dusting the ceiling fans: High ceiling fans can be a challenge to dust, but it is an important maintenance task, particularly when moving into a new home. In addition to a cleaner home, a clean and dust-free fan also increases its functioning and durability by eliminating the extra weight. Using a paint roller with a wet cloth or a similar tool can effectively clean ceiling fan blades by trapping and removing dust.
Clean your drains: Cleaning all household drains is another key maintenance task. For do-it-yourself cleaning, you can use a mixture of baking soda and vinegar or boiling water for regular maintenance. For tougher clogs, try a chemical drain cleaner or a plunger. A good rule of thumb is to clean kitchen sinks every three months and other drains, like bathrooms, every six months.
Waterproofing: Waterproofing may not seem necessary at first, but it can be one of the best decisions you make to preserve your property and save money in the long term. It is a critical investment for first-time homeowners, as it prevents structural damage, reduces maintenance and repair costs, and enhances property value. Whether building new or renovating, waterproofing helps preserve the home’s aesthetic, functionality and safety.
Termite control: Termite control is an important component of home maintenance, particularly for first-time homeowners, as it can cause costly damage to a property’s structure. Termites are active all year, so there is no set time to begin pest control efforts. There are several home remedies to get rid of termites, like neem and clove oil, white vinegar, boric acid and salt. Another simple, natural method to kill termites is by moving infested wooden furniture outdoors to be exposed to direct sunlight for a few hours.