Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > House
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 08-18-2009, 09:03 AM
 
851 posts, read 3,619,778 times
Reputation: 455

Advertisements

I am just wondering if there's some book or something that I can learn what needs to be done to take care a house. I have never been living in a house before.

I don't plan to do much (if any) remodeling. Just want to know the basic regular maintenance and upkeep similar to maintaining car.

For example, I don't know I need to water the lawn to protect the foundation - or is it? I have no idea that I need to change roof every 15-20 years etc. I live in the sweat city, TX. Not sure what kind of special things that i need to do for the house in this hot and sweaty weather.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-18-2009, 09:11 AM
 
Location: Sometimes Maryland, sometimes NoVA. Depends on the day of the week
1,501 posts, read 11,732,903 times
Reputation: 1135
There is a book I was given when I bought my first home claled The Virgin Homeowner. Gives you a lot of that information
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-18-2009, 10:38 AM
 
851 posts, read 3,619,778 times
Reputation: 455
Quote:
Originally Posted by rubytue View Post
There is a book I was given when I bought my first home claled The Virgin Homeowner. Gives you a lot of that information

Thank you for your suggestion. I went through the reviews on Amazon. It seems pretty good. Is there a compliment book that talks about minor repair and maintenance that I can do?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-18-2009, 12:30 PM
 
45 posts, read 293,575 times
Reputation: 43
I am interested in replies to this post too! (without readin a freakin book - I hate books )
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-18-2009, 12:43 PM
 
29,939 posts, read 39,371,043 times
Reputation: 4798
Get curtains for the windows that get direct sunlight all day, maybe all of them if you can afford it. Make sure the attic door is sealed tight. Spray the outside condenser down with your hose to remove dirt and debris that builds up on it. Change the A/C filter monthly. If you have any water leaks coming from anything fix them asap, they'll ruin a house and cost 1,000 times more than the initial repair to get it to stop. That includes faucets, washing machines...etc. Caulk the tub and make sure any missing grout is filled in before taking a shower. Make sure all the vents are open and do not try to close them all at once to "save" energy. Try closing rooms that are colder than others very very slow, but not all the way. Just restrict some flow to try to guide the air to a place less restrictive, hopefully the rooms that are hotter. Make sure your dryer vent isn't clogged. Have your chimney cleaned and go into the attic and look for water stains to see if you may have any leaks. make sure all windows are shut and if you have to do cooking or drying of clothes do that at night if possible unless you have makeup air for the laundry room and it's not using your conditioned air to dry the clothes and exhausting it outside. Fireplaces are really only good for being right near them. they exhaust massive amount of air outside the home and draw in colder dry air making the home feel cooler the farther away from the fireplace you get. If you have a septic tank don't use bleach unless you understand what and how your septic tank works. And last but not least enjoy your new home...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-18-2009, 02:17 PM
 
Location: Houston, Texas
10,447 posts, read 49,558,515 times
Reputation: 10614
Make some good friends who already own homes. They are a wealth full of advice though not always the best advice. Most of it is common sense. If something looks bad or stops working then it's time to address it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-19-2009, 11:17 AM
 
Location: Sinking in the Great Salt Lake
13,139 posts, read 22,738,779 times
Reputation: 14116
It applies more for old houses but my home ownership and repair bible is Renovating Old Houses by George Nash
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-20-2009, 06:47 AM
 
1,791 posts, read 6,498,381 times
Reputation: 1003
I agree about asking around for help. I moved into my first house a year ago from a condo and had no idea what all was involved. I asked questions of lots of people at work, friends and family and got referrals for work being done etc. I think I have learned a lot in a year. One thing you will learn is about the time you get one thing done something else pops up so be ready.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-20-2009, 11:03 AM
 
Location: Sometimes Maryland, sometimes NoVA. Depends on the day of the week
1,501 posts, read 11,732,903 times
Reputation: 1135
This is one of my favorite intro-to-home-repair-type book:
Amazon.com: The Stanley Complete Step-by-Step Book of Home Repair and Improvement (9780671744427): James Hufnagel: Books

We have a whole shelf of construction books, but that is one I turned to a lot when we began. Now we just open up a book for certain references (e.g., Modern Carpentry for calculating load beams)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-20-2009, 11:08 AM
 
24,834 posts, read 37,242,570 times
Reputation: 11538
Keep reading this site. There are a lot of smart people post on here.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > House

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top