For most people, purchasing a home is the most significant investment they'll ever make. But that investment extends far further than simply paying the mortgage each month. As a homeowner, you must continue to invest your time – and money – in maintaining your property and its various components.
In many cases, failing to keep up with crucial maintenance tasks can lead to costly repairs down the line. But with so many things that need your attention, where do you even start?
Let's turn to Reddit and take a look at some of the most helpful – and unexpected – pieces of home maintenance advice being shared there.
Where to Get Started
Many home maintenance conversations on Reddit begin the same way: a first-time homeowner, unfamiliar with the myriad responsibilities of homeownership, asks for advice on where to get started.
They may already know the basics – things like changing their air conditioner's filter every few months and testing their smoke alarms monthly – but beyond that, they're entirely in the dark – and not because they forgot to keep extra replacement lightbulbs on hand.
But while most Redditors respond to these questions with a handful of home maintenance tasks they consider most important, user Eagle_Fan135 offered a more thorough suggestion.
“Look at your home inspection report. Like half the pages in [mine] were recommended maintenance."
If you had a home inspection completed when you purchased your house, go through the report page by page. These reports will cover nearly every aspect of your home and serve as a great starting point for understanding the things that will regularly require your attention.
Most Unexpected Maintenance Items
Many times, maintenance items just aren't intuitive – even for seasoned homeowners. In fact, Redditors share many surprising suggestions that seem to catch many other long-term property owners off guard.
So, what are some of these most unexpected recommendations?
Garage Door Springs
One Redditor, CrayZ_88s, encourages other users to keep their garage door properly lubricated for long-term functionality.
“Garage doors, lubricate the springs if they are above the door once a year for longevity,” they wrote.
Another Redditor, Khranky, agreed and shared their experience of learning this lesson in the most unfortunate manner.
“I learned to lubricate the springs on my garage door the hard way. I heard a loud POP, BANG and looked around the house wondering what that was...it took me an hour to finally look in the garage to find the spring broken laying on the floor.”
Vegetation
When it comes to protecting your home’s exterior, user mirwenpnw recommends, “Plants should never touch your house and in a perfect world, neither should dirt. Remove any groundcover, bushes, tree branches, or mulch that is touching your siding, roof, or foundation. It will hold moisture, encourage insects, or cause damage in a wind storm.”
They then go on to add, “Dig down a couple of inches around the foundation if you can and fill in with gravel as you're doing other landscaping clean up. It's amazing to me how many people pile up deep wood mulch directly touching the house. Non-organics like gravel will not trap moisture against your block foundation or wood siding.”
Pest Control
User grammar_fixer_2 had another unexpected tidbit of advice for keeping insects out of your home. “Put out diatomaceous earth by the ingress points,” they wrote, praising the effectiveness of the naturally occurring pesticide.
To that end, Net_Section_9374 also recommends that homeowners "check and replace weather stripping on doors as needed" to minimize further the chance of insects and other pests making their way inside.
Money Spent on Maintenance Is an Investment In Your Home
While some home maintenance suggestions may cost money, they’re often vital to prevent even more expensive repairs in the future.
HVAC
In addition to regularly replacing the filter, Stifledsongbird recommends that homeowners “hire a reputable company to come out every six months to service your HVAC system," to extend its life and prevent breakdowns.
User Natoochtoniket mentions, “I use sticky notes on the side of the air handler to record the change-dates for each filter. I can easily look to see what is due, and what has been done recently. When a maintenance or warranty issue comes up, I have documentation that the filters were changed.“
Leak Sensors
Another helpful tip that costs a little upfront but could save you tons of money in the long run comes from Redditor gerrickd. “Leak sensors at all water sources. Buy them, and set them up. If something leaks it's great to know quickly.”
HesitentScribe went a little further to explain how this piece of preventative home maintenance could actually save you money, even without a leak.
“Water leak sensors hooked up to a smart home / notification system can save you money from insurance and give you piece of mind. Let the insurance company know what kind of alert systems you install. Many have additional saving opportunities that aren't provided without asking.”
Home Maintenance Isn’t Always Pleasant
Sometimes, keeping up with home maintenance can be pretty unpleasant – or even downright gross.
Dishwasher Filter
One such commonly overlooked maintenance practice was suggested by user distantreplay. “Clean the dishwasher sump, debris screens, and filter,” they said, in order to ensure proper drainage and keep the appliance from wearing out.
Gutters
Another unenjoyable – but necessary – task takes place outdoors. “Cleaning the gutters twice a year is probably one of the most important and unpleasant maintenance tasks a homeowner can do,” comments AwesomeOrca.
To that, Redditor MosesHarman responded, “While up there, check out the roof shingles, flashing, etc. for signs of damage. Better to catch roof problems before a leak occurs.”
However, when it comes to the less-than-pleasant responsibilities of homeownership, it's difficult to top properly maintaining a septic system.
Well/Septic
“If you're on a well / septic system - understand how that goes together and what you can and can't put into the system. Especially if you've only had city septic prior. It needs to be checked and emptied every few years. Whether that's every year or every five years depends on the size and amount of use it gets. It's not a constant,” commented HesitentScribe.
According to the EPA, homeowners should typically have their septic systems inspected every 3 years and emptied every 3 to 5 years. Thankfully, at least that’s one messy home maintenance project that you can leave to the professionals.
Maintenance Items to Put on Your Calendar
Some Reddit users suggest tasks they complete on a regularly scheduled basis, whether that's monthly, annually, or at some other frequency in between.
Refrigerator Coils
User Wole_ recommends that homeowners “clean refrigerator coils every 6 months to keep energy bills down.”
To this tip, lilykatz100 added, “Cleaning the refrigerator coils is great advice because not only does it allow the refrigerant cycle to run more efficiently but will reduce the overheating of the compressor which may lead to a costly repair.”
Redditor Own_Corgi_8848 then added their own irritating experience learning that refrigerator coils needed regular cleaning. “My fridge just stopped working due to my coils being dirty they came out to fix it and cleaned them and it started working he told me to atleast do that once a year.”
Shut-Off Valves
Another frequently suggested home maintenance item is to regularly turn off and on the shut-off valves to your sinks and toilets to keep them from failing.
“Cycle any unused or rarely used plumbing fixtures once or twice a year. Particularly shutoffs. The last time you want to discover a shutoff is stuck or will leak if used is when you actually need to use them! This includes the main shutoff, under sinks, behind fridge if you use water line, washing machine, water heater, etc,” suggests A_Turkey_Sammich.
Sink Tap Aerators
On the subject of plumbing, AHabe mentions that when their sink taps stop putting out as much water, they soak the screw-off aerators to remove any buildup and restore them to peak performance.
“I remove the aerators from all our taps every once in a while to soak in vinegar because we have super hard water,” they explained.
Winterization
Then, Redditor FarCalligrapher1862 had an important once-a-year suggestion for homeowners living in colder climates.
“Depending on where you live, you may need to winterize your home, this could include shutting the water out off to outside, draining, or blowing out any sprinkler systems, some plants need to have additional protection for the winter, any of your landscape equipment needs to be winterized, that includes fuel stabilizer for your gas, lawnmower, etc.”
The Consequences of Deferred Maintenance
Failing to keep up with required maintenance can sometimes have serious consequences.
“Don't ever overlook water staining you might find inside. A small leak in the roof or a window can destroy entire walls of your home if left alone,” warns user Raterus_.
For homeowners with basements in areas with a high water table or flooding, splitsleeve warns to test their sump pump and battery backup system regularly.
“Test your sump pump. Unplug it during a rainstorm and see if your backup keeps up. I cannot tell you how many I've seen that the backup wouldn't save them and they had no idea. Also, backup batteries degrade over time. TEST IT. Or even better, get a basepump,” they recommend.
Redditor splitsleeve adds an important message about putting off home maintenance – especially when you’ve already noticed a problem.
“My biggest advice to new homeowners, is things do not ever fix themselves. They only get worse.”
Other Responsibilities New Homeowners Should Keep in Mind
Across Reddit, users discussing home maintenance also suggested a handful of other responsibilities that may not necessarily be maintenance-related, but are nonetheless crucial for new homeowners to keep in mind.
Main Shut-Offs and Meters
“Know where your main water shutoff in the house is and the shutoff outside towards the street. Gas shutoffs too if you have that,” encourages ZappaZoo.
Redditor MoronTheBall expands on this by saying, “Locate and clean access to all the major utility meters and shut of valves. The main electrical switch/panel/breakers. The main water shut off valve, and all of the ancillary water shut valves (toilet, sink, dishwasher, etc.). The gas shut off and emergency furnace switch.”
Knowing where these shut-off valves are can be vital for preventing catastrophe if you encounter a water or gas leak or an electrical fire.
Fire Safety
On the subject of fire, user appliedecology gave some potentially home-saving wisdom. “Hope and pray you’ll never need them, but have two fire extinguishers.” This is valuable advice, because with just one, you run the risk of mechanical failure or using up all of the extinguishing agent before you're able to fully put out the fire.
Furthermore, while you should be testing your smoke detectors – and carbon monoxide detectors if you have them – regularly, Pleasant_Bad924 shared a bit of uncommon knowledge.
“Check the dates on your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors. They have an “expiration” date,” they mentioned.
Ceiling Fan Rotation
Something else many new homeowners don't realize: most fans can spin in either direction, depending on whether you want to pull warmer air down or push cooler air up.
Ok_Percentage2534 suggests, “Reverse the rotation of your ceiling fans. Counterclockwise for warmer months and clockwise for winter.”
Taxes
One last piece of advice that could save you big on your property taxes comes from user CrayZ_88s. "If your state has it, file for homestead exemption.”
You Don’t Have to Do It All Alone
Routine maintenance is an ongoing process that applies to nearly every aspect of your property. The topics covered in this article only skim the surface of all of the responsibilities that come along with homeownership.
However, just like with septic issues, not everything that needs to be done is something you can necessarily handle yourself. “Know your limitations with DIY. Don't be afraid to push those limits, but don't be afraid to ask for help either,” says user Brightstorm_Rising.
Redditor JustGenericName goes further to say that they prefer to hire people to handle as much time-consuming or labor-intensive home maintenance as possible.
“To be honest, we outsource as much as we can. Pool guy. Lawn service. House cleaner. Days off are limited and we work weird hours. I will gladly cut other things in the budget so I can relax on my days off!”
