How Much to Budget for Dayton Home Maintenance

Homeownership comes with certain responsibilities. Unfortunately, there’s no landlord to call up when the sink stops draining, the lawn needs mowing, or the washing machine is dancing across the floor in malfunction. Regular home maintenance is an essential part of life and it will also lengthen the usable lifespan of things in your home.

As people spent more time in their homes during pandemic shutdowns last year, many homeowners took the opportunity to catch up on home repairs that may have gone to the back burner of the to-do list. Home insurance company Hippo stated that 52 percent of homeowners have become more proactive about taking care of their homes in the past year.How Much to Budget for Dayton Home Maintenance

One of the ways to properly maintain a home is to create a home maintenance budget to cover the cost of needed repairs and upkeep to keep your home functioning properly. While many of these costs will vary depending upon a home’s location, size, climate, etc. there is a general rule of thumb you can go by to create your own home maintenance budget.

Here is a good launching point for creating your home maintenance budget:

Some regular home maintenance cost estimates

There are many home maintenance items that will need to be completed on an ongoing or regular basis. These tasks can vary depending upon what is in your home and the size of the property as well as the climate it is in. Here are some general routine maintenance items that every home needs and an estimate of what they cost.

Cleaning gutters: leaves and debris should be removed regularly from your gutters to make sure that water can properly flow through them at any point in which it rains. It is recommended that gutters should be cleaned out at least twice a year to prevent damage to the roof and the rest of the home from water back up. Homeowners should expect to pay $100 or more if they want to hire a professional to clean gutters. Of course the final price will depend on how many gutters you have to clean.

Changing filters: filters for HVAC systems should be replaced at least every three months in climates where weather changes often, or where there are four seasons traditionally. This is an easy do it yourself project that should only cost about $10-$20 each time you put a new filter in.

Checking the underground sprinkler system: not every home will have an inground sprinkler system but those in warmer climates or hot weather for the summer will have one most likely. The inground sprinkler system should be blown out/drained in the fall and checked for leaks in the spring. The system should also be blown-out out and turned off during the winter. You will want to hire someone to blow out your sprinkler system and close it up for colder weather for you. This cost can vary anywhere from $25-$150 depending on the person performing the task. If a break is found in your sprinkler line it could cost anywhere from $100-$400 to fix.

Lawn maintenance: depending upon the size of your lawn and how much you like to get outside in your yard the cost of landscaping can vary greatly. If you hire the work out to a landscaper, it could cost anywhere from $200-$250 a month or more.

HV AC tune-up and maintenance: heating and cooling systems should be inspected at least twice a year at the start of their seasons of heavy use. So for example air conditioning on your HVAC would be inspected every spring and the heating element in your HVAC would be inspected every fall. This allows you to know that the system is running well and is ready for higher usage. Should there be any major repairs needed this can cost several hundreds of dollars. If the air compressor on your air conditioner for example is not working this could be around $1000 to fix. Inspections can be anywhere from $500 to over $1500 to make sure your system is running properly without any repairs needed.

Keeping plumbing and pipes clear: generally, toilets and sinks don’t need regular routine maintenance but should be added to a list of inspections for damage or proactive measures to prevent any possible damage ahead. Using drain cleaner monthly can help to prevent clogs and specially made bacteria additives can help septic tank systems run more smoothly between routine pumping’s to empty the septic system. These routine things can cost about $10 or less a month.

Tasks that do not require additional cost: it is also important to remember tasks that are pretty much routine deep cleaning to keep systems in your home running properly such as cleaning the icemaker, flushing out the water heater, or deodorizing the dishwasher. All of these things will help the items in your home run more efficiently and for a longer period of time.

Preparing for large maintenance replacement costs

Regardless of how well they are maintained, there are things in your home that will age and need to be replaced over certain periods of time, of course, the better you take care of them routinely the longer they may last prolonging large costs to you. These items are things like replacing a roof, purchasing a brand new furnace, getting a new air conditioning unit, investing in a brand new water heater, a new toilet, a new refrigerator, new flooring, etc. It is always a good idea to have an account or to put away a specified amount of money each month to help cover the major cost of replacing these types of things which could cost several hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.

For more information on purchasing a home in Dayton Ohio or surrounding areas please contact us anytime.

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