If you need assistance, please call 512-327-9310

It's Time For Your Home's Annual Check-Up

Thursday, June 10, 2021   /   by Jenny Carroll

It's Time For Your Home's Annual Check-Up

As summer begins to settle in and temperatures rise, it’s the perfect time to schedule your annual check up for your home. A check up for my home, you ask? Yes! The health of your home needs to be assessed annually to nip any potential issues in the bud as well as identifying problems before they become failures. Here are some things you can do to maintain your home and keep your systems running smoothly all year long.

What kinds of things should we be looking for?

Air Conditioner
House Check up2.jpg House Check up.jpg
Good question. Your A/C system, your home’s main support system in our hot summer climate, should be checked by a professional at least once a year. As it gets hotter outside our usage goes up and that’s when issues can take us unawares. Don’t find yourself sitting in a hot house this summer because you didn’t clean off your condenser unit, pour vinegar in your drainline, or you didn’t check coolant levels. Having a professional A/C company service your system will go a long way toward having cool days all summer.

Plumbing
House Check up7.jpg House Check up6.jpg
Now is the perfect time to address any issues with water you might have. Examine your plumbing fixtures to see if your faucets are dripping, your pipes are leaking under the sink, or if water hose bibs are closing completely. Does that toilet run a little or your hot water heater rattle a bit? In many cases, issues can be fixed with easy-to-find items bought at your local home improvement store but it might be a good time to have the pros take a look. 

Pooling Water/ Mosquito Mitigation
House Check up3.jpg House Check up8.jpg
With the crazy amount of rain we’ve had it’s also a terrific time to walk around your home to see if you’ve had water pooling that might attract the bane of every Texan, those pesky bloodsucking mosquitos. Nothing ruins a backyard BBQ or birthday party quite like a swarm of hungry insects. Make sure you don’t have any spots where water can collect, including in flower pots or in piles of brush leftover from the snowpocalypse. West Nile virus is here in Central Texas so make sure you limit your exposure with good moisture mitigation practices.

Pest Control
House Check up5.jpg House Check up4.jpg
All this rain has pushed other pests indoors, like cockroaches and rats. Have you noticed any chewing around your home on eaves, or up in your attic? Rats love to come into your home and chew the plastic casings on your electrical system creating out-of-sight fire hazards. The damage can be extensive and quite costly to fix, especially if they get after your A/C’s high voltage cable. One homeowner we spoke to recently had this exact problem and had to replace 2 transformers as well as encase a new high-voltage cable in PVC to protect it from future invasions. 

Rotten siding is a perfect entry point for roaches, carpenter ants, acrobat ants, and other potential pesky pests. Cockroaches are attracted to moist and rotting wood on the exterior of homes and other places and can lead to an infestation fairly quickly. Noticed any plastic bags in your pantry with little holes chewed through? Found tiny black pellets near your baseboards? Keeping up a regular pest control regimen, either with a professional service or DIY bait and traps, can help your home stay safe from damage. Keep your trees and landscaping trimmed away from your home, keep your siding painted, and replace any rotten boards you may have so that you can enjoy your summer without the company of these uninvited guests.

Your home is one of the greatest investments you have and we want to help you keep it in great shape. Have questions about vendors or services for your home? Your favorite Stanberry agent has a Preferred Vendor List regularly vetted by our 80+ agents and we’ll happily share that information with you. Give your personal Stanberry REALTOR® a call today. We’re here for all your real estate needs.

  family, home, new, summer, home improvement, water, electricity, spring