There are lots of different things you should be doing to ensure that your home is functioning at its very best. Here is a list of things to perform routine maintenance on that are found in everyday homes.

1. Microwave

Both the inside and outside of your microwave will last much longer if it’s clean. Food splatters are a major concern and need to be cleaned up. They can absorb energy that was meant to be used to heat your food and can even get into the vents of the inside. Do your best to keep the inside and outside of your microwave as clean as it can be.

2. Refrigerator

Conducting maintenance on your refrigerator is important. Wipe down where the door seals with the refrigerator with warm, soapy water. Once a year, remove the panel at the back of the refrigerator and use a vaccum with a soft brush attachment to vaccum away dust and debris from the fan and other areas. Use a condensor brush to remove any dirt from the condensor coils. Always ensure that you unplug the power cord before conducting any maintenance on your refrigerator.

3. Ceiling Fans

Ceiling fans can accumulate a huge amount of dust quite quickly. The best thing you can do for the health of yourself and your family is to clean your overhead fans regularly. It only takes a few moments, and if you use a towel or damp rag to accomplish this, you won’t waste any money on expensive paper towels. The more dust you remove, the more dust the fan can accumulate that you won’t be breathing in. A clean air environment that’s free of dust is important! Don’t neglect this aspect of your home.

4. Furnace

A leakage of flu gases can be very dangerous. A carbon monoxide alarm is a good idea to place anywhere a little bit away but still relatively near your furnace. This will alert you to any leakages that have occured.

Make sure you shut your furnace completely off before conducting any maintenance on it. Open the access panel at the bottom of the furnace and replace the filter if you need to. Usually, replacing the furnace filter when it looks dirty should be sufficient. Keep a close eye on your furnance filter to understand how frequently it needs to be replaced. There are also filters you can buy that allow you to clean them and simply put them back when you’re done removing the dirt from them. These will help in saving you money. Also, be sure to keep the area near the filter and inside the access panel clean. You can do this with a vaccum.

5. Smoke And Carbon Monoxide Detectors

These can accumulate dust and grime and become inefficient. Make sure you regularly clean these and you’ll be sure to be alerted of any smoke or carbon monoxide leaks in your home.

Also check the batteries on the smoke detectors regularly, so you can be assured they are working correctly in case of emergency.

6. Dryer

The dryer of your home will have two areas that need maintenance. One is the lint/fluff filter. Clean this after every drying cycle. It should easily pull out of its compartment for you to brush the lint away and put it back in its compartment.

The second is the vent and ventillation hose. Making sure these aren’t blocked or full of lint can save you from damage to your dryer and/or a possible house fire. Regularly check the vent and ventillation hose for lint and remove the lint at first sight!

7. Toaster

If you like your breakfast toast every day, then this is kitchen appliance that can get very messy, quickly. Make sure you shake out your old crumbs into the bin regularly to prevent mould and grime.

You can also unscrew the toaster (if you know what you are doing with electrics!) to give the unit a full clean. This will also help to lower the risk of fire and burning from old bread stuck in the bottom of the unit.

Until next time Home & Property fans..

WElcome to the second part of the ‘increasing your property value’ posts…

1. Energy Efficient Windows

Energy efficient windows can save you tons of money on the cost of your annual heating and cooling bills no matter how you heat and cool your house. No matter if you use a window unit or central air, you’re going to want to consider replacing those old drafty windows and increase the resale value of your property at the same time. They are much easier to open than old windows and will stay in position when you want them open just a little bit or a lot.

Double glazing is one of the best home insulators available

Here are the best windows to look for:

Double or triple glazed LowE glass windows with Argon, Krypton, or Xenon gas on the inside

Vinyl treated wood frames or hollow vinyl frames

If double or triple glazed glass isn’t an option because you live in a conservation property, listed building, or period property, secondary glazing can be the next best option. Aluminum is bad for a frame and is very old window technology. Vinyl has been in use for over 35 years and has made the move to window frames without fault.

So what about cost savings as far as pounds go? Well, this will vary greatly from house to house depending on a number of factors. The climate, the temperature you like your house, and other factors are all key to calculating the overall savings. One things for sure. Energy efficient windows will save you lots of money on your yearly heating and cooling costs. The replacement energy efficient windows will pay for themselves over the course of a few years and increase the property value of the home as well. Everyone loves energy efficient windows, and if you haven’t replaced your old wooden drafty ones yet, then you’re missing out on the savings.

2. New Coat Of Paint

While you may not think so, the ability to present a home well to home buyers should be one of the most important things to you when you get ready to sell your property. First impressions of a property are incredibly important and you want a potential home buyer to realize their dreams will come true when they buy your house. The only way to do this is to make absolutely certain that the home is 100% presentable. A new coat of paint makes any house look fantastic and will get you thousands of dollars more on the final sale price. And it doesn’t cost a lot.

Compare this to the incredibly high cost of replacement vinyl siding. While vinyl siding may make a home look fantastically new, as long as your wooden siding is in good condition, the experts say to keep it and don’t replace it. Some home buyers are looking for the classic look of a wooden house over one with vinyl siding. You also won’t recoup the cost of the vinyl replacement siding if you’re trying to add value to your home. Your best bet is simply a new coat of paint if the house has decent siding to begin with.

3. Always Keep The House Clean

What about keeping things neat, clean, and tidy? This is very important as well. Removing any dirt you have around the house will ensure that dust, pet dander, and any other grime doesn’t get into hard to reach places. This can make a home seem dirty and cheap. Always take care to keep your home in the most pristine condition you can. Getting into this habit will have you well on your way to having a presentable house that is really worth its weight in gold and ready to really sell when it comes time.

One of the best things you can do for your home is to increase the property value. Here are some great ways to increase the resale value should you ever decide to sell it.

1. The Addition Of A Home Office

Using one of the rooms in your home for a home office is one of the best things you can do to add value to your property in this day and age. Almost everyone who will be looking to purchase your home is going to need one. Millions of people work from home and will be needing the functionality of a home office. Basically, neglecting to add one of these will ensure that your property is worth less when it comes time to sell it.

One thing you have to be sure of is your electrical wiring. Is it set up and wired to handle a significant amount of electrical items? You will need your computer, fax machine, phone, printer, Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS), and more all plugged into your electrical outlets at the same time. Getting a surge protector/surge suppressor will be crucial, but nonetheless useless, if your wiring in an old house is too inadequate to handle it. After you’ve got the wiring redone in an older house, plug everything in and try to get your home office to function. Everything should be able to be used at the same time. If you experience dimming lights or other signs of power failure, consider an electrical technician to make things right.

While modern technology may change and new computers will need to be purchased, there are a few constants that won’t change. The electrical wiring in your home, any permanent light fixtures, and ventilation. You should have an electrical technician redo your wiring in an old house because, quite frankly and seriously, anything to do with electricity is dangerous. You should choose a permanent overhead light fixture with a fan that will provide adequate light and reduce any problems that working in a dim setting can cause. As far as ventilation goes, you need to have adequate air flow into the room, having a window installed would be a great idea for comfort in the spring and summer months. Otherwise, leave the door open to the office so fresh air can get in.

2. Completely Renovate An Old Kitchen And Bathroom

Old kitchens are simply terrible to work in and really bring down the value of a home. A kitchen fitted with new countertops, new cabinets, a new sink area, a new stove, new decorative flooring or hardwood flooring can increase a property value substantially. In fact, the kitchen adds the most value to a home because it is a frequently used area that simply can not be neglected or left to chance.

Another area of the home that can’t be neglected is the bathroom. Moreover, adding a second bathroom to a home can substantially increase a properties value as well. Everyone wants a second bathroom in their home, especially when there is more than one person living there. It adds convenience, value, and will skyrocket the resale value of a property.

Check out our next blog post for further home improvements that will add a great amount of value to your home. When it comes time to sell it, you will rejoice at just how much you improved your financial outlook.

Happy new year everyone! Today’s post is on a very important topic of winter proofing or preserving your home more effectively in the colder months. Follow a couple of the tips in the guide and you may help keep your home above board!

Ice Dams:

An ice dam is a real danger for any home owner. On the edge of a roof is where an ice dam is most likely to form. If you don’t remove the ice dam, this backup of liquid water can seep through the roof and into ceilings, walls, and worst of all, insulation. An ice dam can be tragic but it doesn’t have to be. You can also use a broom or other long handled item to break up the forming ice before it becomes a full force dam.

Keep Snow Away From Air Vents:

Air vents that lead to furnaces and hot water tanks need to be kept clear of snow and ice. If blockage to a furnace vent occurs, it can lead to serious danger. How serious? Try full blown carbon monoxide poisoning. That’s what a total of 13 households learned in just one prominent area. It can happen all over the UK. The solution is simple. Just make sure you check the air intake for a furnace after a heavy snowfall and be sure to keep that area clear. Usually there isn’t much of a danger, but during periods of extreme snowfall, vulnerable furnace air vents can become blocked. Have a carbon monoxide detector in your home just in case. If you hear it go off unexpectedly in the winter, this may be the cause.

Weather Strip And/Or Caulk Your Windows

Adding weather stripping or caulk to your windows is a cheap way to ensure that you don’t lose a lot of energy due to drafts. Windows can be a huge source of heat loss during the winter months. It can also bring cold winds into a home. If you don’t have energy efficient windows, then your best bet is to use caulk and/or weather stripping to block any serious gaps around the window framing.

Many homes have single glazing, which cannot be changed for whatever reason. This is a simple way in which you can retain the heat in your home more effectively.

Check And Conduct Maintenance On Water Pipes

Frozen water pipes can be more than just a headache to a home owner. The amount of water damage a frozen, busted pipe can cause is astronomical. Basically, if a pipe bursts in the winter time and you aren’t there to shut the water off, you can say hello to the complete destruction of your home in its entirety.

Everything from rotted floors, destroyed carpeting, warped wood throughout the area of the burst piping, and more. In order to stop this from happening to begin with, you should check out all the information on Google that you can about how to properly use heat tape, insulate your pipes, and other methods of keeping your pipes safe in the winter.

In times gone by, it was possible to preserve your pipes by insulating them, helping to prevent water freezing.

Dont leave it too late to ‘winter proof’ your home, as it may prove costly later on!

Hi all, i have decided to go for a two part post on improving the functionality of your home. Stay tuned!

Organisation:

This is an often neglected part of a home. Everyone who lives in a house needs organisational skills and places to store their stuff. Not everyone knows how to organise like a pro. In fact, most people don’t have the first clue. If you’re one of these people, read on. We can show you some easy organisational methods that will get you off to a fantastic start.

Tip #1: Add A Shelving System To Your Home For Additional Storage

Add top to bottom shelving to a wall and add a curtain system to the ceiling to hide the shelves and stuff you store on them from view. You can pick a color curtain that is the same color as the paint on your walls to give it the most seamless look.

A great idea is to set up two shelving systems, side by side, with a space in between on one wall. When you need to access the shelving system, you simply bunch up the curtain in the middle space between the two shelving areas, and there you have it. A perfectly designed shelving system that can be hidden easily with a curtain. You’ll need to either create your own curtain out of fabrics or other materials from a store or measure the shelves to specifically make use of the premade curtain width and height.

You’ll have a huge area to store all kinds of bulk products in plastic bins, glass or plastic jars, and more. An example of a great shelving system would be 6 shelves evenly spaced or unevenly spaced, depending on what you need to store. Install them from the highest height you can comfortably reach to the lowest you can comfortably reach.

The most logical solution would be to make a huge list of everything you can think of that you could possibly store and use on a regular basis, measure the size of the bin you need to put it in, and space the shelves out according to your measurements.

Tip #2: Three Bin Laundry Sorter Or Multiple Hampers

A three bin sorter in a laundry room can help you to keep your clothes separated. This is useful for laundry between more than one person in a house. Ideally, each person would be responsible for their own laundry duties and a three bin sorter. More may be needed depending on how many people are in the home.

No one wants to go through the hassle of sorting through each others clothes each and every time the laundry needs to be done. If bin sorters are too small, you might consider delegating a section of space in the laundry area for a series of hampers. This way, everyone can have their own clothes hamper(s) and no one will have to sort out the family members clothes from each other. Multiple hampers or bin sorter bags with name tags will solve this problem entirely.

Hello all and welcome to the Home & Property blog. This blog has been established to share with you all a a wide range of article topics and tips for around the home and garden.

So be sure to stop by again, bookmark us and comment if you have any questions!

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Home & Property Blog