5 Ways You're Wrecking Your House Without Knowing It
We all know that things like fire and flood can ruin our homes but there are a lot of the things homeowners can do to cause a lot of damage to our properties too. Unfortunately, many of us simply aren’t aware of the errors we are making - many of which appear to be pretty minor in the grand scheme of things but can add up to significant damage over a period of time.
It’s time to change that by taking a look at the 5 unexpected ways you could be wrecking your house without even knowing it. Don’t wait until the damage is done before doing something about it!
Grilling too close to your property
We all love a BBQ when the weather is right, but if you’re placing your grill right up close to your property, you could be putting your home at risk. Approximately 9,800 house fires are caused by hot grills in close proximity to homes and they can be totally devastating in nature, Even if your home doesn’t catch light, the siding could be melted or warped, which isn’t exactly ideal so, in future, do your grilling well away from the house! I’ve had personal experiences with sellers who have had to replace vinyl siding prior to closing because the vinyl melted over years of heat from a grill.
Being Lax with Maintenance
One of the first tips every new homeowner should know is how to maintain your home and create a maintenance checklist that covers everything from keeping the carpets clean to having the HVAC serviced regularly. If you let your maintenance efforts slip even for a few weeks or months, it could result in breakdowns that require major repairs, ruined carpets, written off appliances, and much more besides, So, make a point to take good regular care of everything in your home. Schedule things like HVAC servicing in the fall before you need your heating system or in the spring prior to switching to AC, replace filters every 3 months, and inspect caulking around windows to ensure there’s a moisture barrier. Proactive measures that can help prevent high dollar problems later in can save you from headaches in the future.
Pouring oil and grease down the drain
What do you do with oil and grease once you’re done cooking? If you pour it down the drain instead of putting it in the trash, you could be clogging up your drains, and although you might not notice it now, eventually it can smell or create fatty blobs in the sewer system. If you have a septic system, it can cause significant issues if you dump a large amount of grease down the drain. It can cause your septic system to function improperly.
Keeping the blinds open
Do you keep your blinds and curtains open all day to take advantage of the sun? It might seem like a harmless, in fact normal, thing to do, but it could actually be wrecking your furniture and flooring. You see, the rays of the sun are pretty good at bleaching fabrics and fading wood. They’re also excellent at warping hardwood floors, which is why it’s always a good idea to give your home a break and close the blinds at least at the hottest points of the day.
Using lots of water to clean floors
You might think that cleaning your floor with a mop and plenty of fresh water is a good thing to do to keep the place clean, but if you use more than a little liquid your hardwood or laminate flooring could warp or become stained so use as little as is effective from now on. Make sure you’re using the right type of cleaner for your flooring so as not to damage or remove protective coating from wood floors, tile, or laminate.