Winter Problems & Preventative Maintenance: Part 2

Part 2

With the winter season officially here, every homeowner should be aware of common homeownership maintenance problems and preventative options for alleviating unexpected costs and time. If you missed Part 1 visit you can check it out here and consider preparing your home for the winter season with the following Part 2 suggestions:

Check your Roof

Before snow covers the vast majority of your roof and has a chance to melt, inspect your roof from the eave (lowest part of the roof line) on a ladder and check for loose, damaged, or missing shingles. If corrections are needed before water has a chance to penetrate the observed areas, hire a handyman to replace a small amount of shingles or a roofer to fix a larger section. 

Clean Gutters

When gutters are full of leaves and debris, especially near rooflines that are surrounded by trees, water can back up against the house and damage roofing, siding, and trim as well as possible ice dams. If your home is too large to clean the gutters yourself, consider hiring a handyman for $70-$200 and have them look for missing or damaged downspout drainage system pieces and fascia boards. 

Caulk Around Doors & Windows

One of the easiest ways for heat and energy to escape your home, and cost you money, is through old, untreated windows with gaps between the siding and window/door frame.  If you see spots that are larger than the size of a nickel, reapply silicone caulk to the exterior. Silicone is best for exterior use because it won’t shrink and it’s impervious to the elements. Add additional weather-stripping as needed around doors, and check window-glazing putty too. 

If you’re planning a move now or in the future, make sure to visit www.HomeFaxInspect.com for your home inspection from Home Fax Inspections, and get your Home Fax Report prior to purchasing the home by visiting www.NationwideHomeFax.com. We’ll be back for Part 3 soon, see you then!

Winter Problems & Preventative Maintenance

Part 1 

With the winter season officially here, every homeowner should be aware of common homeownership maintenance problems and preventative options for alleviating unexpected costs and time. Consider preparing your home for the winter season with the following suggestions that will be posted in parts of this preventative maintenance series: 

Reverse your ceiling fans

If you’re able switch your ceiling fan to reverse, the fan will naturally produce an updraft and push heated air down into the room from the ceiling.  You’ll save energy, especially in larger rooms where heat rises, and be able to keep your thermostat lower. 

Prevent ‘ice damming’ from your roof

Take important steps to prevent damage to your gutters, roof, and more if you experienced lots of icicles, or worse yet ice dams last winter.  Ice dams cause water to back up and flow into your house, are heavy enough to damage your gutters, and place unneeded stress upon your roof materials. A vast majority of these issues are caused from poor air flow, air leaks, or lack of soffit vents.  A weatherization contractor can identify and fix air leaks and inadequate insulation in your attic that can lead to ice dams. You may also be able to find a federal energy-efficiency tax credit, as well as state or utility rebates as well. 

Tune up your heating system

To achieve maximum manufacturer rating efficiency, hire a Heating and Cooling Technician for roughly $100 to inspect and clean your furnace. Remember to change your air filter regularly, and have a couple extra filters on hand in case you run out.  

Check back for Part 2 soon, and don't forget to see how Home Fax Inspections and Nationwide Home Fax help you Know the Home Before You Buy in the meantime! 

Home Fax Reports for Real Estate Experts

Nationwide Home Fax understands the importance, necessity, and value of quality real estate agents through the process of home buying transactions.  We also believe that information obtained from many popular public websites have negatively impacted this long-standing awareness and understanding. These resources have produced inflated self-confidence, on the part of the buyer, which has in turn created a lack of informed understanding for ‘Know the Home Before You Buy’.  Although our services are targeted towards home buyers, renters, and investors, we also intend to strengthen the relationship between ourselves and quality real estate agents -- enhancing public understanding of their importance, as well as how the necessary benefits of Nationwide Home Fax’ services create informed home buying decisions for our clients.

After speaking with multiple real estate agents, we have been asked to incorporate an additional service, ‘Home Fax Approved’ property reports.  A ‘Home Fax Approved’ report would be primarily conducted for real estate agents and private sellers, as well as insurance companies, lenders, or anyone who may have a vested interest in the property listing and want to provide peace of mind to potential buyers, enhance the appeal and value of a property, and market their homes more sufficiently!  

 

Nationwide Home Fax currently offers three flat rate Home Fax Report packages. A Home Fax Report is essentially a background check and pre-inspection for any residential or commercial property, including unique twists, such as direct contact with neighbors and the community, that help our client’s ‘Know the Home Before You Buy’.  We strive to help our clients make smarter informed home buying decisions by answering the most critical questions to the largest investment most people will make: What would it be like to live, rent, or invest in any prospective property? 

Although relative to one another, at first glance one might ponder whether or not our services actually benefit real estate agents.  A traditional home inspection is a touchy process, and sometimes very influential in the entire outcome of a transaction. Home inspectors can have a significant contribution of what happens following the inspection. There are two points to consider when it comes to a home inspector’s position in the process: they cannot control the condition of the home, but they can control how the message is communicated, delivered, and perceived.  Just as a good home inspector understands the importance of properly explaining minor to critical observations, so too does Nationwide Home Fax.   

Check out www.NationwideHomeFax.com today and see how we can assist your marketing needs for any prospective listing! We also have special pricing packages available for real estate experts as well.