Congratulations on moving in to your new home. We’re glad you chose the National Van Lines family of interstate relocation specialists to handle your move. Now begins the next stage of your journey: home maintenance.
Once you’re settled in, you’ll want to safeguard your surroundings. No, we’re not talking about some type of home-security system displaying blinking lights and digital readouts. We mean the activities that will ensure your home stays in tip-top shape.
These monthly to-dos will protect your investment and make living in your home a lot more comfortable. Also add peace of mind into the picture by avoiding costly repairs or property damage by spotting little things before they spiral out of control.
Certain home maintenance tasks are season-specific, but we’ll focus on a more generic list. Check each of these monthly throughout the year.
Most of these are confined to your home’s interior. However, we’ll take a brief walk outside, too. You won’t need any big-time professional hardware to tackle these tasks. You will need to be thorough, though. Once you get into the habit of performing these inspections every 30 days, they’ll almost feel like an afterthought before you know it.
Press to test
“Safety first” goes the saying. So, let’s start our home maintenance cycle by testing those smoke and CO detectors. Press the test button and wait for the telltale chirp in response. No chirp? Change the battery (typically a 9-volt). The three main versions—lithium, alkaline and carbon/zinc—are listed here in decreasing strength. The rule of thumb (maybe the same one you used to test your detector) is to switch out batteries whenever you change your clocks to “spring ahead” and “fall back.”
Breathe easy
Staying with our clean-air theme, you’ll want to check your furnace filter monthly. More properly called an HVAC system filter, this item proves its worth whether you switch on the air-conditioner or fire up the furnace. There’s no hard-and-fast timeline for changing a filter. When it gets dirty, it’s time to replace (or clean) it. Sometimes, 30 days is enough time to do one in. Or, a filter might do the job for several months before requiring replacement.
Flip out the filter
Making our way to the kitchen, there’s another filter. This one gets hit with grease, grime and whatever else a frying pan can dish out. The kitchen vent hood filter should be inspected regularly—even “more regularly” if someone likes cranking those burners on high and sending a lot of splatter up into the air.
Survey the grounds
View your house from the outside. Walk around the property. Look up, down and around. Check gutters, drainpipes, vents and the foundation. How’s the paint holding up? Is the siding secure? Identify little issues with proper attention to home maintenance before they become big problems.
We Make Moving EasySM
At National Van Lines, we make long-distance moving easy. We’ve helped more than 1 million families relocate for 90+ years. Contact us online or call 877.590.2810 for answers to your questions—plus a FREE moving quote.
