A year will take its toll on a home. You may not notice it from day to day, but the weather will chip away at your paint, clutter will accumulate, and appliances will wear down. As a Santa Fe homeowner, you’re going to have to run some basic maintenance on an annual basis. The good news is that you can spread out these tasks throughout the year, so there’s no reason to feel overwhelmed.
Our ultimate home maintenance checklist for Santa Fe homeowners can be adjusted to suit your needs and your schedule, but here are the essential chores to keep your home in top-notch shape.
Spring: Deep Clean and Declutter
- Check exterior paint. Look for chips and cracks in the exterior paint on your Santa Fe home. Leaving the paint to flake away will leave the house susceptible to dry rot in trim and exposed woodwork, which can cause some serious structural damage. If you get this done in the spring, you can count on the fresh coat drying before the weather starts to act up again.
- Clean your air filters and ducts. You’ll be glad you did this at the start of allergy season.
- Deep clean every surface. Once a year you’ll want to pressure wash the exterior of the house, wipe down the windows, shampoo the carpets, scrub the tiles, and seal the grout lines. This will prevent mold and get rid of allergens.
- Declutter. You can do this any time of year, but it’s not a bad idea to do it right after the holiday season. Dig through your closets, the garage, and sort out all that stuff you’ve “been meaning to get to.” Get rid of what you don’t need, and organize what you’re keeping.
Summer: Inspect and Check
- Check your detectors. Test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to make sure that they’re working, and replace the batteries if necessary. Put this on your calendar as a recurring task. The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) recommends testing smoke detectors at least once a month and replacing batteries at least once or twice a year.
- Have your HVAC inspected. You generally want to do this once a year, and you might as well have it inspected at the start of summer so you’re not left sweating it out in the middle of July while you wait for the technician to come fix it.
- Clean the fridge out. No matter how clean you try to keep your fridge, you’re going to find a year-old old chunk of pot roast or some ancient corn cobs in the back of your freezer. So do a full clean at least once a year. Empty it out and scrub it clean.
- Inspect for termites. Exterminators will do this for a small fee, and that small fee could save you thousands of dollars in repairs, especially since your home insurance might not cover it.
Fall/Winter: Prep for Cold Weather
- Clean the roof and gutters. You want to do this at the start of the winter so that you’re not out there in the snow trying to scoop frozen leave and debris out of your gutters. All that junk on your roof may be harmless in fair weather, but add some slush and heavy wind to the mix and you could be spending thousands on roof repairs.
- Check your trim and weatherstripping. Grab the caulking gun and walk around your house checking for gaps around windows, doors and siding. You can look for drafts indoors with a lit candle: if it flickers, you’ve got a leak.
- Trim your trees and bushes. You don’t want branches whipping into your windows come December, so trim any greenery that’s getting a little out of hand.
These tasks are pretty much universal for Santa Fe homeowners. Not everyone has a stone countertop that needs to be cleaned, but we’ve all got fridges that need to be emptied out and HVAC units that we’ll be relying on through the warmest and coldest months of the year. Add whatever you need to add to the list, but think twice before skipping anything.
Looking to buy a new home in Santa Fe? At Barker Realty, our qualified brokers are ready and able to help you navigate through the entire process. They all have the necessary support, tools, state-of-the-art technology, and statistical data to make your dream home a reality. Start your search today!
