Home is Where the Money Goes
Summer ends officially this week. The coming autumn announced itself with over an inch of rain all at once this past Saturday. While I think all of us in the Pacific Northwest are eager for more, we’ll take what is offered. For me, the rain was more than just welcome watering for all the plants on the property – it was a reminder of what needs to be done right now to get ready for the new season.
If you are a homeowner, you know the never-ending cycle of maintenance and repair of your structures and property. It seems like once you fix something, you see something else that needs fixing. Or, when you least expect it, something expensive breaks and you end up throwing your piggy bank against the wall to get it resolved.
For prospective homeowners, you have probably heard people refer to owning homes as money pits that you just throw your hard-earned wages in. Don’t despair. While I think there is some truth to that statement, it’s an incomplete assessment of what it really means to own a home. Don’t see yourself as a servant to its many needs, but rather a steward of the place that is your own corner of the world.
It takes work, time, and money, yes. But it’s where you spend your time and enjoy your life. I don’t spend 100% of my time at home fixing things. When I do go into maintenance mode, it’s often also upgrade mode as I can clean or change something to be exactly the way I want it. You will also gain the skills necessary to make repairs in the future, and you’re newly gained experience will allow to spot problems earlier and even help others when they realize how handy you are.
There is absolutely peace of mind earned when you know your roof isn’t going to leak, that one door doesn’t squeak every time you open it, and that hose spigot doesn’t drip constantly. It helps me sleep better knowing I’m always chipping away at improving something I’m responsible for.
Also, a home is an investment (just look at U.S. housing markets currently). Should you intend to move one day, a prospective homebuyer will be ecstatic when an inspection report shows that your home was well cared for and doesn’t have any critical repairs needed due to long-term neglect.
Long story short – if you like learning new things and working with your hands, homeownership will likely suit you well.
The reason this is all on my mind right now is because I am currently thumbing through my own inspection report from the purchase of our new (70-year-old) home. Given that it was built in 1951, there are already constant items requiring some TLC, and high on that list is “keep water out”.
This is why I scrambled a bit before the rain came. Here is what I did last Friday:
Primed a few spots of unpainted wood that would have direct contact with water
Caulked cracks and openings around the exterior of the house (you’ll see these often at the edges of sidings and around windows and doors. If you can see an opening (even a teeny, tiny one), it needs caulk
Brought all outdoor furniture into the shop
Applied a silicone roof patch to two long seams along the metal shop roof. Good news: they worked! Bad news: there are still a couple of (much smaller) leaks to address
Applied moss treatment to one part of the house roof that was developing moss growth
Cleaned the house gutters out (still need to do shop)
I recommend not doing these all in a single day like I did unless you too subscribe to the “rip the band-aid off all at once” approach. Doing one or two a week would make this list far more palatable. In fact, doing one or two items per week year-round will likely keep you up to date on your whole list.
It may seem obvious, but if you put these things off, maintenance will turn into repair. And if you ignore repair, it will mean eventual replacement. As you can imagine, things can get more expensive and labor-intensive the longer you wait.
Over time, you’ll see lots of these projects and such over on our YouTube Channel.
This is all to say that it’s important to pay attention to the home part of any homestead. Good luck and have fun with all the maintenance!
Home Maintenance Information from New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/guides/realestate/home-maintenance-checklist
For those wanting a shorter read, info from This Old House:
https://www.thisoldhouse.com/inspections/21015288/how-to-give-your-house-a-yearly-diy-inspection
Disclaimer about links:
Internet links can obviously change or break. I don’t always come back to a blog post I’ve published to check that links still work (but I do sometimes when I refer to them for my own use). If you come across a broken link and feel deep sorrow, send me a message and I’ll do my best to correct it.
