Last month, I became a proud member of the Greatwood community and am proud to consider myself a Sugar Land resident. My family has lived in the Sugar Land area since I was a young boy and I was ecstatic to get back closer to my roots. It is based upon the experiences I have had owning and renovating numerous rental and investment properties, real estate consulting and providing home improvement services to my neighbors that I am able to provide helpful insight to our monthly home improvement help line.

This month, I’d like to briefly discuss basic ideas that all of us should follow for simple preventative maintenance that should help to conserve energy, lower costs, and prevent costly, unexpected repairs. When I moved into our home here in Greatwood, we bought our home from a highly educated, seemingly informed family whose husband and wife were professionals, whom one would assume understood the importance and basic needs of maintaining a house. Well that assumption has knowingly cost us a brand new air conditioner system and countless hours and dollars repairing things that seemed so obvious. So it is here that we begin our year journey together learning about simple and complex ways to save money, repair and renovate our homes with the idea of improving our quality of life as well as our important investment.

I think that it is important that, at a minimum, every six months we conduct a thorough home inspection to look for repairs which may go unnoticed. I consider this a crucial semi-annual home inspection that could potentially save you thousands of dollars. For example, when we inspected the house we were moving into, we noticed that the air conditioner filters had not been changed in months, if not well over six months! The sellers were unknowingly choking and killing their expensive air conditioning system. Simply changing out their air filters with even inexpensive, $.79 filters, could have saved us well over $5,500, as the system had to be replaced due to the strenuous wear and tear of an air conditioning system fighting against itself to cool the house. It is crucially important to ensure that your air conditioner filters are changed every three to four weeks with either a basic air filter or a higher-end air filter, which is supposed to last for three months. However, I have noticed that the basic cheap filters put less strain on your system, cost less, and work just as well (next month we will focus on air conditioners).

I suggest a top to bottom or bottom to top approach in conducting your semi-annual home inspection to ensure that you do not overlook any repairs that may become a costly error. Start with your foundation. Do you have any excessive cracks in your foundation and brick that are at a 45-degree angle? Do your doors and windows shut properly or have they been sticking when you close them? If so, you may have a foundation problem. By simply watering your yard and the area around your foundation, you can ensure that the soil and concrete, which comprise your foundation, is moist and may prevent a repair that can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Also to protect yourself from termite damage, make sure that the soil is roughly around six inches below where your foundation meets the brick or siding and that there is no soil touching any wood siding on the exterior of your home. This is an inviting feast for termites!

In today’s economy we are all searching for ways to save money and maximize efficiencies no matter what our disposable income may be. Besides our energy usage, one of the easiest home expenses to repair that we need to prevent is the simple, basic water leak. Check to ensure that EACH of your faucets and plumbing underneath your sinks do not have a slow leak (potential mold disaster!), and that your faucets and toilets are not constantly dripping/running. You would be amazed at the how much money you are literally throwing down the drain by having simple water running problems. Tighten all nuts, bolts, and connections to ensure that all is sealed and slow leaks have ceased! On the subject of our home inspection and toilets, please make sure that your toilet seats are tightened and properly secured. We were amazed to find that the previous owners didn’t even know that a simple screwdriver and wrench could tighten the plastic toilet seat lid fasteners toward the back of the toilet where the bowl meets the box and at the base of the toilet and the foundation!

Another good idea when inspecting your home is to ensure that you have the proper locks installed in your home. So many Sugar Land families have expensive security systems only to find that breaking through a window and simply turning a keyless lock can open every lock. Make sure that if your doors have glass around the locks, that at the very least you have dead bolts which can be unlocked only by a key (don’t store your key in the lock!). Having manual turning locks is a tempting invitation to a thief. Find a way to make entering into your home as difficult as possible. In addition to your security system, install multiple, reinforced keyed locks and chains on your doors to deter any home invasion. Remember, that the easiest path is that of least resistance, so make sure your home is sound, safe and secure and physically deters any potential thieves.

When conducting your semi-annual home inspection, ensure that your smoke detectors are in good working condition, that the batteries are new and that you have smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors outside of bedrooms, hallways and other areas that may be occupied at various times of the day. Home Depot currently has a set of two good working smoke detectors for less than ten dollars, ten dollars that could save your life!

Over the course of cleaning a home, many appliances will get moved which has the potential of adversely affecting the performance of your appliances. For example, if moving or cleaning gas stoves, be sure that the gas lines are not pinched, that the gas burners properly light and that there is not faint or obvious smell of natural gas. Natural gas is an odorless, inert substance, but has been injected with an odiferous characteristic that alerts homeowners to any potential hazards.

Lastly, check to see that any siding or wood is not rotting away from the brick or studs on your house. This may become a potential mold hazard, an invitation for pests and birds and an acceleration of multiple other problems. If you see that there are the beginning signs of wood rot or your siding is pulling away from your house, you can re-secure the siding to your home, but be sure to properly caulk the siding and seal it to prevent moisture reaching any cracks or openings that may accelerate wood rot or siding deterioration!

By the time you finally reach your roof, make sure that your shingles are not popping up from the rest of the shingles. If they are, your underneath decking may becoming loose or your shingles may not be properly secured. You may be able to simply get on your roof, re-nail your shingles and ensure that the metal flashing is properly secured. With regard to metal flashing (i.e. where the metal flashing lines up next to your chimney), make sure to inspect that the flashing is secure and that when water runs off, that it does not leak into the sub-surface of your roof. This is another potential mold hazard that can rapidly deteriorate your home investment. Simply replacing and resealing your flashing can save you thousands in mold remediation, new roofing and new sheetrock.

So in summary, be sure to take the time to look around and make sure that the “obvious” is taken care of. A few minutes of your time can save you thousands of dollars and tons of time in major repairs.

New Home Improvement Product Update: New Mini Spiral Lamp Fluorescent Bulb. This energy efficient light bulb generates the same light as a regular light bulb, but at a fraction of the wattage, translating into significant cost savings. For example, a 100-watt new spiral light can save you roughly $46 per lamp over the life of the light bulb (approximately 6,000 hours). Cost: $5-10 per bulb set.

Next month: “The Dog Days of Summer: Mortal Mistakes to Avoid with your AC system”

If you have any questions or comments about this article, next month’s article or any other comments/questions, feel free to either call or email your neighborly, turn-key solution - Ames Home Improvements, LLC at: 281-343-5600, Garrett_Ashmore@tamu.edu.

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