Between our daily and weekly chores of cleaning, cooking, laundry etc., maintenance usually falls by the wayside. But it's substantive. Like your car, your home and property improve from regular tune-ups. Staying on top of your home maintenance can go a long way to keep your house in good shape, and it can help you avoid even more costly and complex repairs later on.

These tips can be handy when you make a home maintenance plan to help protect your bank account and keep your house in good shape. You can do these simple DIY projects independently, and you don't have to pay money to a contractor.

1. Gutter Cleaning - This may not be the only thing that comes to mind when you think of home maintenance tips, but it’s crucial to clean your gutters quarterly or after every six months, in the spring and fall. Use a ladder and remove debris from your gutters with your hands. Use a plumber's snake and a hose to flush waste from downspouts.
2. Roof Inspection - There’s one more reason why gutter cleaning constantly makes homeowners’ checklist of summer DIY chores – it gives you the best opportunity to check your roof. Look for cracked, missing or impaired shingles. While cleaning waste and debris from your gutters, look for sandy black residue that could lead to the need to re-shear your roof.
3. Fix Your Leaky Faucet - Fixing a leaky faucet is not difficult. Usually, it's just a matter of rubber washer replacement inside the faucet handle. Turn the water supply off to the faucet, remove the leaky handle and replace the rubber washer.
4. Fix Your Leaking Toilet - A leaky toilet can make your water bill skew. Check if your toilet has a leakage problem by putting some food color in the tank and check back in one hour to see if the color is seeping from the tank to the bowl. If water is leaching out from the tank, you must replace the flapper at the bottom of the tank. If the toilet has leakage issues around the base, still, you’ll have to replace the toilet.
5. Inspect Your Washer Hoses and Dryer Lint Trap - Defective washing machine supply and drain hoses are a significant cause of water damage. Replace them as soon as possible if you observe signs of damage, leaking or rust around the metal ends of the drain lines. You must replace them after every three years. Also, don't forget to remove lint from the dryer's lint trap after every use. If material is stuck inside, it can cause serious fire problems.
6. Check the Refrigerator Door Seals - The seals across the refrigerator doors are responsible for keeping the inner portion of the refrigerator cold. When they don't do so, your refrigerator's efficiency decreases and can have a shorter lifespan. To try out the door seals, close the door of your refrigerator using a piece of paper. If you can't pull it out of the closed door, your seals are working fine. If you have to replace the refrigerator door seals, you can check with any home improvement store.

These simple and easy DIY projects can be beneficial to whip your house into shape for the summer and forefend those unexpected appliances and system failures that can become a huge headache. If you need any help with these tasks or have questions, be sure to give us a call.