Elite Home Tune-up
Your home’s integrity – as well as your own safety and comfort – hint on maintenance and repair. This includes projects such as roofing, exterior painting, window upgrades, furnace upgrades, and electrical work.
Should you choose to sell your home, buyers will expect solid structure and systems along with cosmetic improvements. If your home is not properly maintained, prepare to deal with lower BUYING offers – if you get any offers at all.
You can avoid this by checking and repairing the following before putting your home on the market:
- Roof and flashing: Make sure your roof does not leak. If there are leaks, have them fixed immediately. Check the flashing around the chimney and walls as well, and make sure broken roof shingles are replaced. In addition, make sure that tree branches and leaves are not touching the roof.
- Chimney: Make sure the bricks are not loose or missing mortar. If they are, have the bricks tuckpointed to prevent water leakage and structural failure. Check the roof flashing around the chimney – is it in good shape? Make sure the flashing has no gaps or openings for water to penetrate.
- Gutters and downspouts: Clogged gutters can cause many problems, including paint failure, leaks, wood rot, and sagging gutters. Improper downspout outlets can also cause water in the basement and cracked foundation waters. Make sure gutters and downspouts are clean and flowing well. If you find clogs, clean and flush both the gutters and downspouts. Make sure the downspout outlet drains away from the house, on soil that is also sloping away from the house. Downspouts that run into the home can cause water problems, including ground settlement and cracking of basement walls.
- Brick walls: Make sure brick walls are solid and in good repair. Replace any damaged or cracked brick and tuckpoint any missing mortar joints.
- Foundation: Repair cracks in foundation walls. If there are cracks, make sure that downspouts are not draining into the home’s foundation and footings. If cracks are severe, you may need serious structural repairs such as foundation underpinning.
- Plumbing fixtures: Make sure the plumbing fixtures are in good working order. Identify the type of faucets you have, and replace any leaking washers or cartridges in case of a faucet leak. Check the drainage of toilets and sinks and unclog as necessary. Replace clogged water galvanized piping systems with a clean copper piping system.
- Electrical systems: If your home has 60-amp service, you’ll need to upgrade your electrical service panel to 100 amps. Make sure all switches work and that all three-prong outlets are properly grounded. Also, ensure that GFCI outlets in the kitchen and bathrooms are installed as per code. Upgrade all two-prong ungrounded outlets in kitchen and bathrooms to GFCI outlets.
- Furnace: Do a seasonal checkup to make sure the furnace has clean air filters and is in good working order.
These are just a few home-maintenance basics. When you become an Elite client, we’ll look at your home from a critical buyer’s perspective and inform you of all other basic home repair that may be necessary.
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