Home maintenance advice, please! (Columbia: appliances, house, water heater)

[Seattleite61]

We recently relocated to Columbia from Seattle, WA. and purchased a home in Lake Carolina. We are in need of home maintenance advice as follows:

Air Conditioning Units: In Seattle, a/c is not common, so we are clueless as to maintaining the units. Our current home has two units - one for upstairs and one for down. Do we need to do anything to protect or winterize the units? How often should they be inspected/serviced?

Pest Control: We have the transferable termite bond. Is once per year sufficient for an inspection? Also, is there a need to have someone come and spray for other bugs on a regular basis, or would we be okay spraying on our own with supplies from Home Depot or Lowes etc?

Sprinkler system: I'm guessing it probably doesn't get cold enough here to warrant getting the sprinkler system flushed/winterized? My sister owns a landscaping business back in Seattle and told me to check into that!

Any other suggestions/recommendations would be appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance!

[Chi2Midlands]

Originally Posted by Seattleite61

We recently relocated to Columbia from Seattle, WA. and purchased a home in Lake Carolina. We are in need of home maintenance advice as follows:

Air Conditioning Units: In Seattle, a/c is not common, so we are clueless as to maintaining the units. Our current home has two units - one for upstairs and one for down. Do we need to do anything to protect or winterize the units? How often should they be inspected/serviced?

Pest Control: We have the transferable termite bond. Is once per year sufficient for an inspection? Also, is there a need to have someone come and spray for other bugs on a regular basis, or would we be okay spraying on our own with supplies from Home Depot or Lowes etc?

Sprinkler system: I'm guessing it probably doesn't get cold enough here to warrant getting the sprinkler system flushed/winterized? My sister owns a landscaping business back in Seattle and told me to check into that!

Any other suggestions/recommendations would be appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance!

Great questions! Like you I moved from up north so I've had to learn a few unique things about living down here. To answer your questions:

(1) On the A/C units, I don't believe you necessarily have to have them inspected on a regular basis, but I would be careful if you have the original builder-grade units (which aren't always the best quality). You could get an annual maintenance/inspection plan, but in my experience some of the HVAC contractors use that as a way to upsell you on unnecessary services/fixes.

What I would recommend is to get a home warranty on all your appliances (including your A/C units), which are about $30-$50/month, so that when something does break down, you're still coming out ahead with the monthly payments and deductible (usually $50-$100) instead of paying thousands of dollars in repair costs. American Home Shield (AHS) is a popular one that many of our friends and family are happy with.

(2) Pest Control: I believe most of the termite inspectors do annual inspection. Contact a reputable pest control firm (e.g., Orkin, Terminix, Clark's (this is a local firm), etc.) to see what plans they have, including other non-termite services. We used to have the full-blown pest services including spraying for other bugs, but we've found it much cheaper just as effective to spray Ortho Home Defense once a quarter or so around the interior and exterior perimeter of the house, plus window/door sills. I will say that being in SC, you may get a few bugs (typically smaller ones) in the house every now and then, no matter how clean you keep things. Being in a hot, humid, subtropical climate means it can be a bit more of a challenge to control bugs, but it's not a big deal.

(3) We've never had to winterize our sprinkler system or other outdoor plumbing fixtures. While we do get cold temperatures in the winter down to 30s and 20s, it rarely goes below that for any extended period of time.

Hope this helps and welcome to neighborhood!

[Brandon Hoffman]

1-Regular inspections/maintenence will help prolong the life. Once a year in the spring will do the trick.
2-Once a year inspection is normal. Bug treatment depends on your personal tolerance levels.
3-I don't think you need to, but I've never had a sprinkler so check with a local landscaper.

[Seattleite61]

Thanks for the info! The sellers did include a 1 year home warranty, so I guess we are good for now. The hvac, furnace, and water heater units are only 2 years old, so not too worried about them. Sounds like maintenance won't be too much more than what we were doing before. Again, thanks for the advice!

[accufitgolf]

Originally Posted by Seattleite61

Thanks for the info! The sellers did include a 1 year home warranty, so I guess we are good for now. The hvac, furnace, and water heater units are only 2 years old, so not too worried about them. Sounds like maintenance won't be too much more than what we were doing before. Again, thanks for the advice!

Your HVAC system will have an intake filter (somewhere in the house) which must be changed frequently, sometimes monthly.

Personally I have an HVAC company come check my system when we go to heat (late fall) then again when we go to AC (late spring) so twice a year. Each visit about $50.00.