General maintenance

Having not owned a house before what are some of the recommended maintenance one performs annually or semi-annually with their house?

Here is what I think I know:
- Monthly you should change your filters
- Yearly replace your fire alarm batteries
- Biannually have your HVAC system maintained (we have a contract)
- shut your outdoor water off and bleed the line before the weather gets cold

Someone mentioned draining the sediment out of your water heater annually and replacing your hoses on your washing machine. You should also grease up your garage door (if you have an auto opener) - I do this by sound mostly though.

Would love to hear what others do.

 

Inspect all exterior wood, recaulk and paint as required.



Neil Z.
Resident since 1999

 

Surely this is not a yearly thing? VM did such a poor job caulking too.

 

You really need to inspect and caulk as necessary every year, otherwise you'll start getting wood rot, water seepage, etc. Caulk does not last forever, and you need to be ahead of the game. Then you want to touch up where there is a recaulking to put a protective coat of paint over that seam.



Neil Z.
Resident since 1999

 

what do you do with the cracks in the wood moulding on the porch? Fill and paint to revent wood rot?

 

Also clean out your clothes dryer vent. Old dryer lint can start house fires.

 

And an empty two liter plastic Coke bottle shoved into the dryer vent by careless construction workers can also set your dryer on fire, as a co-worker of mine found out the hard way!!!!!

 

You can fill with wood putty then paint, or replace the trim then repaint. One is a patch .. the other a (hopefully) permanent fix.



Neil Z.
Resident since 1999