Of course, we know you would never intentionally damage your home. After all, for most of you, your home is your most valuable asset. However, you may be overlooking six critical things that over time could actually harm the integrity of your home.
Here are the six ways:
- Ignoring your gutters: failing to clean your gutters twice a year leads to clogs. When your gutters are clogged, they can’t carry water away from your home. Excess water over time can cause costly foundation damage.
- Forgetting to change your air filters: dirty air filters reduce the air quality in your home and can lead to higher energy bills.
- Ignoring basement moisture: dampness in your basement can cause mold and may be a sign of a much greater problem.
- Hard water: high concentrations of calcium and/or magnesium in your water can cause build-up in your pipes.
- Keeping cracked caulk: the caulking on your windows, doors, sinks, and bathtub only lasts about 10 years. After that it dries and cracks and is just as bad as if you had no caulking at all.
- Failing to drain outdoor pipes before winter: with Chicago’s harsh winter weather it is essential to drain any water remaining in your pipes before the first frost hits. Otherwise, you’ll find cracked pipes when you go to water your lawn in the spring.
