New Year, Safe Home: A Homeowner’s Guide to Maintenance
Homeownership is an immense milestone in a person’s life. It provides stability, symbolizes maturity, and opens up new opportunities in your professional and personal life. A properly maintained home is a fantastic store of value and guarantor of financial stability. But as a homeowner, that maintenance is your responsibility. Whether you’re a first-time homebuyer or you’ve paid off your mortgage, it’s entirely possible that you’ve missed some recommended regular maintenance. Keeping up with these tasks can be a chore, but it’s also the best insurance against catastrophic incidents which can injure both you and guests in your home. This maintenance protects your health but also protects you from liability in the event of an unfortunate accident. Today’s Malloy Law blog post will be a homeowner’s guide to regular maintenance.
Homeowner’s Guide to Winter Maintenance
Let’s start with some seasonal concerns unique to the cold weather months. Keeping an eye out for these hazards now may help establish healthy annual habits that you can fall back on when the cold comes each year.
Ice Dams and Other Icicles – “Ice Dams” are natural formations caused when snow piled on a roof melts and re-freezes in the course of a day. After several days of this, it’s not uncommon for water to work its way under roof shingles and begin to leak into your attic, which can damage your insulation, ceilings, and walls. If left unchecked, this can result in catastrophic damage. Keeping your gutters clean and your roof reasonably clear of snow can prevent ice dams from forming.
Furthermore, large icicles can grow in ledges or gutters. These icicles may melt to the pavement and then freeze again when the sun rises and the temperature rises. Sometimes, the entire icicle can fall apart, seriously injuring anyone left beneath it.
Sump Pump – Basement flooding incidents often occur during the spring thaw, testing your sump pump now and fixing it if it’s non-functional can save thousands of dollars in damages.
Check for Drafts and Close Foundation Vents – Caulking over drafts and closing crawl space ventilation can reduce your heating bills during the winter months.
Homeowner’s Guide to General Regular Maintenance
Clean Clothes Dryer Exhaust – Did you know that 15,500 home fires per year are caused by accumulated lint buildup in clothes dryers? Failure to clean these machines not only results in reduced operational efficiency but also in a genuine fire hazard.
Drain Hot Water Heater – Sediment collecting in your water heater can reduce its lifespan.
Check Smoke And Carbon Monoxide Alarms – It’s recommended that you replace the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms every six months. You don’t want to be without your early warning system in a time of crisis!
Maintain Your Exterior
Take a stroll around your property sometime, you’d be shocked what you may find. Check for water damage, foundational problems. Do the gutters need cleaning? Are the drainpipes functioning?
Furthermore, what about your exterior walkways, steps, railings? Do they need refurbishment or replacement? These features in particular may lead to a premises liability lawsuit if not properly maintained. A guest, or even a delivery driver tripping and falling due to poorly maintained exterior features may be able to seek compensation for their injuries. Money and effort spent now can prevent much larger headaches later.
How Malloy Law Can Help
If you or a loved one has been the victim of an injury caused by negligent home maintenance, Malloy Law may be able to help. We employ an experienced team of personal injury attorneys along with a dedicated support staff whose sole goal is to support you throughout your case and win maximum compensation for your injuries, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Don’t wait. Contact Malloy Law today and let’s win your case.