Home maintenance is a crucial aspect of keeping a home, and it has several benefits. Admittedly, the cost is why many homeowners postpone relevant home maintenance projects. However, deferring home maintenance can cost you four times the original budget for repairs. Therefore, it may be a better option to attend to problems as soon as they crop up. That way, you can avoid many negative consequences, including the following.
- Costly emergency repairs
When it comes to emergency home repairs, houzz.com says the cost could shoot up to five times the original. The reason is that emergency repairs need to be resolved immediately. Failure to do it could result in rapid, extensive damage to the house. This is a homeowner’s nightmare, and you can avoid it by resolving maintenance issues as soon as they arise.
For example, following a structural engineer’s advice about your home’s foundation issues is in your interest. According to ipropertymanagement.com data, a homeowner might end up paying $50,000 on emergency foundation repairs. If tackled earlier, that could have cost anywhere from $10,000 to $18,000. This is enough proof that deferred maintenance is not something to entertain.
2. Increased safety hazards
Your walls, windows, and even your flooring can quickly become safety hazards in the home. The same applies to dysfunctional home appliances you may have deferred maintenance. The risk of fires, falls, and other injuries can dramatically increase. For example, if your lights are flickering more often, you may be dealing with wire breakage within the walls or a fault in the electrical circuit system. When you fail to find a qualified electrician to attend to the problem, the result of your inaction could be dire.
Another thing to pay attention to is deep wall cracks. When these begin from one edge of the window to the next, you may be dealing with an issue with the structure. It would be better to ask professional concrete contractors to assess it immediately. Deferring it puts you and all other occupants at an increased risk of a wall collapse.
3. Reduced lifespan of the property
Home maintenance ensures an increased lifespan of the structure. According to reports, the average lifecycle of a US home is 40 to 50 years. Some can go as long as 100 years, according to housing.com. However, maintenance is required in those years to strengthen the house. This is why deferring such works can reduce the original lifespan of the structure. After a house has been built, it is normal for it to go through a cycle of wear and tear. However, timely repair works can make much of a difference by ensuring that potential hazards are eliminated.
To conclude, deferred home maintenance can reduce property value if you plan to sell later. Aside from that, you keep yourself and any other resident safe by engaging in timely maintenance activities. Most of the time, it is better to hire experts to handle certain maintenance checks. It will benefit you in the long run.
