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Hey guys, so I am a first time home owner and I was wondering what are things I should do as a first time home owner?
I was never taught proper maintenance and/or how to keep up for a home. So, any advice you guys can give? I know there are a few spots I have to repaint, also reseal the concrete so it does not get bigger, seal up some stuco and repaint the wood to prevent rotting.
Anything else you guys recommend I should check often? Any tips with the heater and AC would be great since I have no clue how to activate them. I do have home warranty, but im sure it wont cover that many things for just 300 a year.
question would be, I have a gas heater, so can I leave the gas heater for the water on 24/7? is it safe to do so?
Congrats on home, have fun making it your own. The water heater stays on, you should be able to adjust the temp for your comfort and a vacation setting to conserve on gas when away for a long time like a week or more. As for your heat and ac, depending on the model of the thermostat, usually it's easy to work with. Just set the temp you feel comfortable with. Frozen pipes in winter is the biggest fear so always keep the temp above freezing, never turn it all the way off in winter. My challenge as home owner has been drain lines, they clog sometimes and need cleaning out. Dryer lint needs cleaning out, the exhaust pipe and vent leading outside. Furnace needs filter changes. We have a washable filter, saves trips to replace them. Inside our home is less of a challenge. It depends on the home and the condition. When we first moved in our home was a total gut because everything was old and literally falling apart. So now we have everything inside new, so rarely issues. Outside can bring the pain. Water is the enemy, keep gutters and downspouts in working shape to keep water away from the house. Keep an eye out for missing shingles after bad windy storms, we lot several a few years ago in a storm and insurance replaced all the shingles.
Right now we have a gutter and down spout that needs repair from damage from wind and ice last week. My sump pump line was not installed properly, froze again and finally broke under ground so a portion if my deck is sinking because of the water! The emergency reroute required 3 feet of our deck wall to be opened so worker could get to the piping, and now a critter was spotted going in there. Keep siding, flashing and vent covers on the outside secured to keep critters out. We have several trees, large shrubs yet the birds will push their way into any opening on the house they find to nest.
question would be, I have a gas heater, so can I leave the gas heater for the water on 24/7? is it safe to do so?
do you mean keeping the heat on when it gets below freezing so that the water pipes don't burst? Yes you can keep on the gas furnace on 24/7 once it gets to the desired temperature the thermostat will turn it off and then back on again if the house gets cold. They are designed to stay on.
Gas water heaters definitely should be kept on 24/7. You don't want to have to relight the pilot light repeatedly, do you? The water heater will only activate anyway when you run the hot water for awhile and it needs to replenish the supply.
If you mean hot water heaters yes they always stay on. It would cost more in fuel to reheat the water if it's turned off than to keep it on all the time.
As far as the pipes freezing, things freeze below 32 degrees F. to have that happen you would have to have no heat in the home for quite a while.
One thing many new homeowners neglect -- if you have forced air, once a year take the louvered cover off all returns and all floor registers and clean the louvers and inside the duct. Also change the filter regularly (every 3 months), and also regularly check any other filters, such as stove vent hood.
In early fall, go around the house and look for holes leading inside, pack bigger openings with mesh and fill all unwanted openings with caulk or minimally expanding foam. In early spring (now) do the same from window level on up, looking for openings that could be exploited by birds or squirrels.
At the end of air conditioning season, cover up your outside compressor for winter. You don't need to use a fancy fitted full cover, simply covering the top where the fan opening is will extend the life of the unit.
When winterizing, turn off the indoor supply feeding all outside faucets, and open the hose bib to let it drain. If water keeps dripping from the faucet, that means the interior shutoff has failed and will need repair-- this might be a DIY task.
On very cold nights, even with the house occupied and heated, hot and cold supply pipes can freeze in enclosed spaces, such as under a sink or a rarely used washroom. Turning both hot and cold to a slow drip in these locations can help -- even if the supply still freezes, having the faucet not completely off reduces the chance of a burst pipe.
If house is wood siding, do not let shrubs or bushes contact the wood. Keep them trimmed back. Otherwise "dry rot" can set in and ruin the wood.
If you have a underground lawn sprinkler system, each fall it will need to be shut off, drained, and possible "blown out" with compressed air.
If house has fireplace, do NOT, repeat DO NOT, put any ashes in a cardboard box in the garage. Use a metal container outside. Every fall our local FD responds to a garage fire where the new homeowner has done this, thinking the ashes were cold when they were not. :-(
Location: Los Angeles>Little Rock>Houston>Little Rock
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Quote:
Originally Posted by willc86
Hey guys, so I am a first time home owner and I was wondering what are things I should do as a first time home owner?
I was never taught proper maintenance and/or how to keep up for a home. So, any advice you guys can give? I know there are a few spots I have to repaint, also reseal the concrete so it does not get bigger, seal up some stuco and repaint the wood to prevent rotting.
Anything else you guys recommend I should check often? Any tips with the heater and AC would be great since I have no clue how to activate them. I do have home warranty, but im sure it wont cover that many things for just 300 a year.
question would be, I have a gas heater, so can I leave the gas heater for the water on 24/7? is it safe to do so?
You would be surprised at how much the home warranty does cover. Our first year in this house it was free and it saved us ~$800 or so. We renewed it when it came time. You can check on their website what they cover.
You activate your heat and a/c with your thermostat. Don't bother turning the gas on and off.
The air filters for your furnace and AC is pretty expensive ( $12+ each) but I notice HD has sales once or twice a year where a 12 pack comes out to $4-5 each. Watch for it and stock up.
I found a couple of areas around doors that leak cold air big time, even though there is a weatherstrip already. It isn't too noticeable until the cold temps at 20F or below. So I ended up fixing those areas again and again until they barely leak anymore. Makes a big difference.
I also heard that it's better to run the sink disposal often - so I try to do that a few times a week.
The toilet tank has a flipper - they were all at the 7 yr mark when I moved in and one failed after another (water leaked from the tank into the bowl). They are cheap and easy to replace.
When winterizing, turn off the indoor supply feeding all outside faucets, and open the hose bib to let it drain. If water keeps dripping from the faucet, that means the interior shutoff has failed and will need repair-- this might be a DIY task.
There may also be a drain plug inside, right below where the shutoff is. When that plug is open, it allows the residue water in the line to drain (about half a cup comes out of mine).
Quote:
On very cold nights, even with the house occupied and heated, hot and cold supply pipes can freeze in enclosed spaces, such as under a sink or a rarely used washroom. Turning both hot and cold to a slow drip in these locations can help -- even if the supply still freezes, having the faucet not completely off reduces the chance of a burst pipe.
It was -15F one night last month (very cold for this area near Boston) and I found my bathroom dropped down to 31F in the morning. Close call for sure... any colder my pipes would have burst. This is a guest bath right next to the front door and has 3 exterior walls. It's always 10F colder than the rest of the house and that morning got much colder than normal. I'll turn off the main supply and drain the lines next time it happens - the same as what I'd do before taking off for a trip in the winter.
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