Tampa Palms, Westchase, Carrollwood and Tampa Bay Real Estate News From Jeanne Prigitano

The key to protecting the investment you’ve made in your home is by following a regular maintenance schedule. By performing routine, preventative maintenance, you’ll avoid most big ticket repairs that lower the value of your home.

Below you'll find a few things you can do around your home to extend the life of your appliances and make sure your home stays in the best condition.

Inside

	Check your smoke detector monthly, but make sure to replace the batteries every quarter.
	Change filters throughout your house. Doing so will keep your heating and cooling unit running efficiently.
	Make sure caulking is clean and intact. If the caulking is dried out or peeling away from the window or wall, it needs to get replaced.
	Go through and clear old food from your freezer and pantry. Discard expired items or boxes with any holes in them.
	Run and empty washing machine on “hot” with vinegar and baking soda to rid your machine of any dirt or soap scum that could stain your clothing.
	Clean hard water from shower heads and faucet fixtures. An easy way to cut through soap scum and hard water stains is to let the shower head soak in white vinegar for about 15-20 minutes.

Outside

	Wash the windows and check window locks. A few squirts of a grease-cutting dishwashing liquid into a bucket of water works wonders for washing windows inside and out. It also helps to squeegee the panes for a crystal clear finish.
	Clean out your rain gutters. Clear out leaves and other articles that have fallen into your gutters. You want to work moving away from the drain pipes. Run water down the pipes to loosen any debris stuck within the drain pipes.
	Closely look for structural wear and foundation shifts on the exterior of your home. Also check inside, looking at your ceilings, floors and walls. Look for cracks in the ceilings, uneven floors and cracks in the walls that run from the door frames to the ceiling.