If you’ve always been a renter you probably don’t know this Five Basics Tips For Maintaining Your Home – Homeownership 101.
The things that you need to do to maintain your house so that you keep it looking great. Apply it, the beauty of your home will change.
1. Caulking (Kitchens And Bathrooms)
Let’s start with caulking.
So here is an example of this gray silicone caulking that’s all around the back of this sink.
As water splashes on it, it starts to degrade, and periodically it needs to be replaced.
So you can buy a tube of caulking at the hardware store, you want to get the one that is made for wet areas your bathrooms, and your kitchens.
“It comes in different colors so sometimes you can buy a different color for your backsplash or your counter rather than just white”.
But periodically when you see that the caulking is starting to pull away from the wall like this is it’s time to replace.
2. Cleaning Your Ceramic Stovetop
If you have a glass cooktop stove they are very very delicate and they can get scratched.
The number one thing to remember is as soon as you are done cooking wipe up any spills.
If they harden on to that cooktop it is so much harder to clean them up later.
“My favorite thing to use is bar keeper’s friend or baking soda”.
If the glass cooktop is just a little bit warm you sprinkle it with some baking soda or the bar keeper’s friend rub it with a magic eraser.
Wipe it all down and when it’s clean you can spray it with Windex to get the shine back.
Don’t Use Green Scrubby Sponges
But you don’t want to use anything super abrasive, so none of those green scrubby sponges.
3. Caring For Granite Counters
Let’s talk about sealing your granite counters.
Granite is a natural stone and it is extremely porous.
“Which means if you spill orange juice all over it it can seep into the granite and it will stain”.
Make sure that you seal your granite counters periodically.
They say at least once a year you could even do it every six months if you wanted to be on the safe side.
The sealer usually just comes in a spray bottle and it literally just sprays the counter and then wipe it down.
But you have to do it periodically because if you wait until the sealant has worn off then you’re at risk for getting stains in your granite counter.
4. The Downside Of Southern
Let’s talk about something really exciting “bugs“.
Yes, we deal with bugs here in southern Georgia we have palmetto bugs we have spiders we have all kinds of creepy crawlies because we live in a subtropical climate.
What Do You Need To Do?
I use a pest control company they come about once a quarter.
So every three months they’re gonna show up and spray the outside of your house if you’re having a problem inside with spiders or other creepy crawlies.
They will come inside and spray as well but I have had such great luck with them they only have to do the outside.
They’ll tell you in advance when they’re coming you can make sure that the dogs are inside so that they can just go out.
Spray the perimeter of your home and a little bit of preventive maintenance is well worth it.
“I would so much rather have them spray four times a year and not have to deal with finding spiders and palmetto bugs in the bathroom”.
5. Replacing Your Air Filters
What about air filters?
Well, air filters should be replaced at least every six months and probably every three.
If you are an allergy sufferer or you have pets you get a lot of dust and hair and all kinds of allergens stuck in the air filters.
So, find out what size you require and then I just find them on Amazon in by the case.
So if I have a box of six of these in my hall closet always ready to go as soon as I’m ready to replace the air filter.
I always have a backup waiting for me.
I figure it’s easier to buy a case once a year then have to order them every single time you want to change it plus I always forget what the size is.
So if I just keep the box that it came in says the dimensions right on the box then I don’t have to go look it up every single time I need to order a new one.
Hope you get help from this post and thanks so much for reading this post and please like & share this article on social media.
