Most homeowners don’t neglect their property because they don’t have the desire to keep it looking and operating at its best. For the most part, all the tasks are neglected simply because people didn’t realize they needed to be done, or because the cost of completing the repair exceeded what they could afford.
While everyone knows that certain repairs should be completed periodically, if you’re not aware you need to check or monitor certain areas, or you simply don’t have the finances to get around to it, things can back up and get much worse over time.
But what is it people aren’t doing or are putting off?
Roof Leaks
Sadly, a roof leak isn’t going to remain in its current state for you to ignore indefinitely. Leaks get worse, they increase, and issues will multiply.
When water enters your home from the roof, its been able to follow the path of least resistance ie the initial damage, from here, you’ll notice more and more damage, for example, by the time you see that small brown stain on your ceiling indicating a roofing leak, there already be damage sustained to timber, insulation, and anything in the ceiling. When your insulation and joists are impacted by water, the structure and your home’s temperature control are already failing.
The fix here is to build checks into your life. Your roof needs checking at least twice per year, but definitely after an extreme weather event. This means checking internally and externally, too, for signs of roof damage.
Gutter Cleaning
Like the roof, your gutters are charged with keeping water outside and away from the building. But they’re not infallible, and there are many factors that can influence how effective your gutters are in their current condition.
Because when they are unable to redirect water away from the property due to cracks in the materials, a blockage, or standing water, the overflow will run into the fascia and soffit and eventually into your home, causing damage, showing up as damp, mold, and moisture in places it shouldn’t be.
Check your gutters periodically, especially when you inspect your roof and look for signs that something is amiss, i,.e. wet patches on the wall or drops from the gutters, as you shouldn’t ever have water dripping over your gutters; it should always be free flowing within the guttering systems to the eventual disposal point.
Garage Door Repairs
Garage doors can fail in multiple ways and, depending on the type of door you have, you might find it’s the physical garage door panel that’s damaged, the lifting and closing mechanism, or you have worn or damaged rollers, which are the most common failure point, which, when broken, put pressure on the opener motor as the load becomes uneven.
Broken garage doors can range from being a mild inconvenience to a danger to use, and it doesn’t matter how small the issue is, chances are, with continued use, the problem will increase, potentially introducing damage to other parts due to excess wear and tear. This is where booking a garage door repair is important, so you can avoid any harm to anyone using the door, safety issues for your home and vehicle, and you gain improved functionality.
Driveway Cracks
Driveway cracks can be really easy to ignore in terms of importance. But when you see small cracks start to expand and heave open, and that hairline crack from a few years ago is now likely to be fully cracked, meaning, the issue is much more complicated, not to mention expensive.
The thing is, small driveway cracks are inevitable, but come winter or periods of drastic weather change, these small cracks allow water in, which can then freeze, expand, and wreak havoc.
A quick and easy remedy is to use a filler to fill the gap when it appears, so it doesn’t have the chance to succumb to freeze-thaw cycles. And compared to getting a contractor, it’s relatively inexpensive too.
Window Seal Failures
Replacing your windows entirely is an expensive endeavour. Everyone knows this. With costs for a window replacement running anywhere from $200 to $2,500 per window, depending on your window’s construction and size, it’s not in many people’s budget.
But if you have double or triple-pane windows and the seal goes, then your windows aren’t doing what they’re supposed to. When the sealant goes, it enables the gas that is providing the insulation to escape, and you’ll see this when moisture gets in, and you’ll notice fogging or condensation inside the pane that you can’t wipe off.
But you don’t always need to replace the entire window for many homes; you can replace the unit so it’s fully functioning again without replacing the whole frame. But if you leave it, then chances increase you’ll need to replace the frame entirely.
Electrical Panels
Older electrical panels aren’t able to meet current safety standards and can pose a risk to life and property with continued use. And some brands, especially Federal Pacific or Zisco panels, can have documented failures, making them unsafe to use. In the case of these two brands, there is a risk of breaker failure in panels installed in homes from the 1950s to the 1980s, specifically those within the 1963 to 1981 period.
An inspection can tell you the condition of your electrical system as a whole and identify any concerns with your panel so you can get it repaired or replaced as required to give you peace of mind that your home is safe to live in and your electricity circuit isn’t going to cause a problem.
Plumbing Drips
Plumbing drips are not just small issues that can be put off. And over time, you’ll likely get used to the drop that’s present, and you probably won’t even notice it anymore.
But that slow drip can be causing untold damage in your home and not just within the plumbing system itself.
If the drip is inside or under a cabinet, it is introducing moisture, which can impact the cabinet materials, eventually leading to them rotting. Or the drip can make its way to the subfloor, and next thing you know, you need to replace the flooring entirely. And if your leak is in the toilet, it’s likely to be the flapper, and if the flapper has failed, then you’re wasting gallons of water per month, and your bills and consumption will rise dramatically.
The fix is simple: get a plumber in early to determine the source of the leak, rectify the problem, and then you can repair any other damage so you’re not looking at hundreds of dollars in repairs a few months down the line.