Home Maintenance

Home maintenance is a topic of concern for every homeowner.  By staying on top of the maintenance game you can extend the life of your home.  One of the most important things to remember is that you are responsible for certain routine maintenance items to keep your house functioning properly. These tasks tend to be relatively simple. For instance, many types of heating and air conditioning systems contain filters to remove dirt and dust from the air. A home owner should change these filters when necessary.

On the outside of your home, make sure that gutters and downspouts do not get clogged with leaves or other objects. The exterior of your house is built to withstand exposure to the elements, but a periodic cleaning will improve the appearance and, in many instances, prolong the life of siding and other exterior products.

For a complete home maintenance schedule check out the website at the National Association of Home Builders.

There is much being said about “Green Building” in remodeling conversations today.   Green Building is a design and construction practice that promotes the economic health and well being of your family, the community and the environment.  Consider the following ideas to promote Green Building in your home:

Home Insulation
Increasing the amount and R-Value (the measure of thermal resistance) of insulation is a cost-effective way to save energy and help reduce heating and cooling bills, which account for at least half of the energy-use in the home. Sprayed insulation made of foam, cellulose or wool are alternatives to traditional glass fiber batting.

More Efficient Toilets
New toilets have redesigned bowls and tanks that use less water but function more efficiently than first-generation low-flow models. Some use pumps for supplementary water pressure. In the average home, flushing toilets accounts for some 30 percent of water usage. New efficient models can reduce that use up to 25 percent.

Tankless Water Heaters
Selecting a more efficient and correctly sized water heater also will save you money. Tankless water heaters provide hot water on demand at a preset temperature rather than storing it, which reduces or eliminates standby losses. Replacing an electric water heater with a solar model can reduce costs by up to 80 percent a year, and over the 20-year lifespan of the appliance will prevent more than 50 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Energy Efficient Windows
By replacing your windows with energy efficient windows, you save on energy bills by helping to keep heat inside during the winter and outside during the summer. These windows may have two or more panes of glass, warm-edge spacers between the window panes, improved framing materials, and Low-E coating(s), microscopically thin metal or metallic oxide layers deposited on windows to reduce radiative heat flow.

Gather more information to help you consider to “Build Green” in your next home improvement project on the NAHB website.