DIY Dads- Easy Home Maintenance Tips That Will Save You A Bundle

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Hello Creative Family's DIY Dad, John Stone, shares Easy Home Maintenance Tips That Will Save You A Bundle

I grew up with a dad who owned his own construction business. Weekends for us weren’t spent at the park or going to the mall, our weekends were spent getting projects done around the house. My dad has always been great about staying on top of home maintenance. My parents just recently replaced most of their home’s original appliances… almost 40 years after they built the house! Staying on top of the maintenance of your home will save you a ton of money on expensive repair calls and replacing appliances too early. That’s why I’m so excited about today’s post.

Karen and I thought it would be fun to have a DIY Dad series on Hello Creative Family. The craft and DIY blogger space is dominated by women and we thought it would be fun to bring a bit of testosterone over to Hello Creative Family. I’m excited to see what the DIY Dads bring to he table… and even more excited because I can’t wait to learn from them and try out their tips, tricks and projects myself!

Our first DIY Dad post is from John from Smooth Decorator! John is going to share with us some of his favorite easy home maintenance tips that will save you a bundle! Read on and enjoy!

Crystal

How many times have you called a professional to repair something in your home that you could have repaired yourself? There are many simple tasks around the house which you can do on your own, with just the basic knowledge of how things work. It will save you a few pennies in the long run, but also your time. No more missing work and sitting at home waiting for the guy to show up, roll up your sleeves and DIY.

Laundry room

WASHER AND DRYER 

We have all had problems with broken washing machines. It costs a lot to repair it, and sometimes we postpone it for weeks, but let us agree that we hate hand-washing our clothes. So to prevent this from happening, check from time to time water supply hoses for leaks and replace them every three years if they are plastic. Also make sure that all the hoses are well-attached to the machine to prevent from flooding your bathroom.

AIR CONDITIONING

People often forget about their air conditioning, especially during the winter, and then they get an unpleasant surprise if they wish to cool themselves when the temperature rises. Air conditioning can be the most expensive to repair. Regularly inspect the condensation hose to see if there is standing water, by creating a drainage path using a small garden trowel. Also keep the screen around your air conditioner free from debris to prevent it from using more power than necessary.

Bathroom

TOILET

Another thing that could go wrong is the toilet. Water leaks are not that expensive to repair, but they can damage the bathroom floor if not fixed on time. By putting some food coloring in the tank and checking your toilet an hour later can be a great way to find out if you have the leakage which means that the flapper needs to be replaced. First shut off the water supply to your toilet by turning the water valve. Remove the tank lid and flush the toilet in order to empty the tank and then use sponge to mop out water left in it. Remove the flush chain from the lever, and change the old flapper with the new one. Do not forget to turn the water back on!

WATER HEATER

Water heater requires regular check-up, as nobody wants to come home after a hard day only to find out that there is no hot water for a long relaxing shower. Water has sediment suspended in it that settles on the bottom of the tank, causing damage to the floor of the water heater. At least once per year, drain the water from it so you can clean the inside. First you need to turn off the water supply and power to water heater. Then connect a water hose to the drain fitting at the bottom of the tank and put the other end somewhere to drain hot water. After it is clean, do not forget to turn it back on, you will need that hot shower after this little DIY project.

INTERIOR DESIGN

Painting the walls and redecorating can be quite expensive if you call a professional, but the paint on the walls fades out quickly and you need to refresh it from time to time. Now this is something you can really do yourself, just make sure you have enough paint and all the needed tools. 

window

WINDOWS

If you have old windows that are pretty drafty, it can affect your heating bills in the winter. What you can do is apply an insulating window film over the glass, what will cost much less than the replacement of the windows. 

Doing repairs on your own isn’t that complicated, you just need to invest some time and effort into it. If you do it on a regular basis you will most surely keep your house in great condition and save a lot of money along the way.

John Stone is a DIY enthusiast who occasionally likes to put his ideas down to paper and share them with like-minded people. Currently works as the editor of SmoothDecorator. His fields of interest include home improvement, sustainability, new technologies, and pretty much all-things-DIY. In his spare time he enjoys playing guitar and watching Formula 1.

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19 Comments

  1. You make a great point about checking into the maintenance of your washer and dryer. It is reported that about 1 out of 20 home fires originate from dryers. Fire damage can be especially difficult to repair, so it’s a good idea to keep your washer and dryer clean and in good working condition.

  2. Thanks for the information about maintenance that can save you money, John. I like your tip about how you need to make sure that your heating and air conditioning units are regularly services and have their filters replaced. These can be some of the biggest parts of your energy budget. Making sure that they work properly can help to save quite a bit of money.

  3. I just barely moved into a new home, and I want to keep everything working well for as long as I can! I really liked your tips, especially what you mentioned about how important it is to maintain your air conditioning unit! I never would have guessed that I need to do things like check the condensation hose so that the unit runs well! I’m going to take your advice and make sure that I take good care of my air conditioning unit in the ways that you suggested! Thank you for the help!

  4. Your water heater advice is a good one and has got me thinking. I’ve never actually drained our water heater down at all. It is so easy to overlook some of these important maintenance tasks – out of sight, out of mind.

  5. I like your tips about maintaining your air conditioner. Like you said, it’s easy to forget about the AC for 4-8 months out of the year, but you’ll want it working when you need it. I’ll make sure to keep my air conditioner’s screens clean of debris and make sure there’s no water pooling by the condensation hose. Hopefully, that’ll keep my AC running so I don’t need to worry about it breaking down in the heat. Thanks for the tips!

  6. Cleaning and replacing the filter timely can do much to keep your air conditioner away from malfunctioning and extensive repair work. You must follow it if you really want to keep your air conditioner working fine for a longer period without causing any problem.

  7. I realize that I don’t pay as much attention to my AC as much as I should! I’ll be sure to clean out the screen and have regular maintenance done on it! I’ll also be sure to work on maintaining my water heater. Thanks for this help!

  8. I agree with you that there are times where I could’ve fixed something, but I called a professional to do it. Thanks for the information about how to do some of my own home maintenance. I can be better at furnace maintenance. Although, I still might have to call a professional every once in a while.

  9. Great information .. Thanks for sharing , Home window tinting is always beneficial to us because it has lots of factors that can be very useful to us. Tinting our home can provide heat proof rooms and also blocks UV rays entering into our home. Our furniture will also get a layer of protection from UV rays.

  10. These are definitely projects I know my dad would attempt to fix first before ever calling a repairman. As I get older I now find that I may have picked up a thing or two from watching him do it.

  11. These are some great tips for home maintenance. Most people neglect their AC units in the colder season. AC units are expensive so maintaining the one you already have sound be at the top of your list.

  12. A debt of gratitude is in order for the data about upkeep that can spare you cash, John. I like your tip about how you have to ensure that you’re warming and aerating and cooling units are consistently benefits and have their channels supplanted.

  13. There is some great advice there. I have had a lot of trouble with my washing machine in the past. so I will definitely take your advice on board. Great Article. Thanks

  14. Great Post 🙂
    I am totally agree with your Blog. We all spend so much money on these appliances but we don’t take care of them then we spend money on their repair and maintenance so we all should do it ourselves regularly.

  15. Another benefit of insulating your home is a reduced environmental impact. With an insulated home you will be using less energy for heating and cooling your home.

  16. Thanks for the toilet maintenance guide and I tested my toilet as you mentioned here. But nothing was wrong. The problem is my toilet is consistently sounds like a flush. What should I do then to fix it anyway?

  17. Insulating your windows is a very smart idea. It doesn’t take a lot of time and your energy bill will go down. Thanks for such a good post.

  18. How impressive! I have fallen in love with these ideas!!! I’m an avid DIYer and always try to be busy with some new projects. Was searching for some easy ideas of home maintenance. Yours made me stop! Hope all these will be of great help for me. Thanks for sharing such innovative ideas! 🙂