The Beginner’s Guide to Home Maintenance in Florida: Indoor Tips
Get your home ready for fall with our indoor home maintenance advice
Owning and caring for a home can be a lot of work. Just like routine oil changes for your car, regular indoor home maintenance saves you money, helps appliances run more efficiently and increases the value of your home.
Whether you own a home for yourself or as a vacation rental in Florida, you may not exactly have the luxury of a personal home maintenance crew. Waiting until things start to crack, leak, or make strange sounds is the last thing you want before the holiday season begins.
Did you know that for every dollar you spend on preventative home maintenance, you can save approximately $100 in future repairs?[1]
Help your home run and look better all year long by breaking it all down into manageable steps. By splitting up the list into indoor and outdoor tasks, we make it easier than ever to help you keep your maintenance goals on track without overwhelming yourself.
To help you, we’ve created a handy printable checklist. Find it here. Feel free to print it out and stick it on the outside of your fridge. That way you can check off things as you do them. Ready?
Here are 5 tasks you can do (now) to get the inside of your home ready for Fall:
Indoor Home Maintenance Tasks
Check your air conditioner
It’s Florida! It’s always hot here!. Since your poor air conditioning unit has to work double to keep your home cool, follow these tips to keep it in tip-top shape:
Change Your A/C Filter: Changing your a/c filter every 30-60 days can help you reduce your energy bill, improve the air quality for your loved ones and aid in preventing costly air conditioning repair. Change it every month if you have pets or family members with sensitive allergies.
Service Your A/C: If you notice your home is just not cooling the same, consider getting your air conditioning unit serviced with a tune-up. That way you can be sure your A/C is running as efficiently as possible to keep you cool and save on your electric bill.
Change your smoke detector batteries
Smoke detectors work by giving your family an early warning that a fire is nearby, giving you more time to escape and stay safe.
46% of smoke alarms which failed to operate had missing, disconnected or dead batteries.[2]
With a statistics like these, it is no wonder why the National Fire Protection Association recommends changing your smoke detector batteries every 6 months.
Have trouble keeping track of dates? Try setting a recurring reminder on your phone calendar.
A great time to change your smoke detector batteries is when you change your clocks during Daylights Savings Time. By making it apart of your existing time-change checklist, you are less likely to forget.
Check for leaks
Even the tiniest of leaks can lead to major water wasting, sky-high water bills and costly repairs.
The average homeowner can spend an average of $6,965 or more in water damage claims due to plumbing leaks in and around your home.[3]
Good areas of your home to check are around and under the kitchen sink, dishwasher, washing machine, bathroom sinks, shower heads and your hot water tank.
While you’re at it, take a walk outside the perimeter of your home and check out the water meter and shut off valve. By checking for muddy areas or sections of grass that look greener than normal, you will be sure that all of your bases are covered.
Deep clean your fridge
The end of summer or after any major holiday are hands down the best times to deep clean your fridge.
Fruits, vegetables and BBQ leftovers are bound to create a mess in your fridge, leaving not so great smells and harmful food bacteria behind.
Start by removing everything from your fridge, throwing away expired items and old leftovers. Next, remove all of the shelves and drawers. Then, wipe them all down using a rag and hot, soapy water.
Lastly, to help remove lingering smells, mix one cup of baking soda with one gallon of water. Use this mixture to wipe down the inside of your fridge and freezer.
Clean your ceiling fans
Hot summer days mean your ceiling fans are turned on longer than normal. The longer fans are turned on, the more dust collects and flies around your home.
To clean your ceiling fan, first turn it off — safety first!. Then clean the blades either with a vacuum cleaner that has a dusting attachment, with a long hand-held duster, or by hand with a damp cloth and all-purpose cleaner. Pro Tip: Instead of an all purpose cleaner you can also use a warm water and soap mixture.
Fun Fact: clockwise fan spinning warms a room and counterclockwise fan spinning cools a room.[4]
Be sure that your fan is spinning in the counterclockwise direction when the weather is warm and the opposite direction when temperatures have cooled down.
Getting the whole family involved is a great idea to split up your indoor home maintenance jobs and have a fun time while doing it! As the saying goes: “teamwork makes the dream work.” Always remember, safety first.
Now that you have the inside of your home covered, it’s time to get outside.
Check out our next blog for top 5 outdoor summer maintenance tips for your Florida home. Read it here.
Ready to take your home maintenance to the next level? We would love to hear the dreams and ideas you have for your next home improvement project! Whether you are a building company, contractor, architect or a homeowner, you can trust Moreno & Moreno to carry out your home improvement project to the highest standard.
You can see some of our completed projects here. To get started, contact us today for your free estimate.
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