Feeling like your home could use a list of New Year’s Resolutions all its own? These tips will not only improve your home’s efficiency, eco-friendliness, and functionality, but you’ll feel better about your day-to-day maintenance and productivity, too.
De-Clutter
An excess of things tends to collect over time, including things we used but no longer need, or things we thought we’d need or like but didn’t end up using. The holidays can lead to some extra build up of stuff around. Don’t wait until spring to give your home a good sort. If you have some extra time off around the holidays, it’s a good time to thin out the piles of things!
Separate your things into categories of keep, donate, sell, and recycle/toss. Shelters and non-profits can use your spare winter clothes (and new pairs of socks and gloves, too). Check individual charity sites to see if they’re requesting anything specific. You can sell things like old furniture, electronics, entertainment, etc. on eBay or Kijiji. Recycle as many things as possible and finally throw out what is left. You’ll feel great when the clutter is a distant memory.
Take Care of Plumbing
It’s good to keep an eye on your plumbing and drainage systems all year, but it’s especially important to watch out for problems around winter. Pipes can freeze and break, causing leaks and potential flooding. Look out for cold and frost-covered pipes and insulate them using materials from the hardware store for prevention. Take care of any leaky pipes or fixtures, as water damage can lead to mold problems, plus the wasted water really adds up over time.
Plumbing is easy to forget about until there is a problem. Certain units in your home may need to updated as well, and now could be a great time of the year to consider installing a tankless water system, or upgrading some plumbing fixtures around the home.
Resolve to take better care this coming year. Call plumbing professionals to manage any problems and perform preventative checks, maintenance, and repairs. Experts at The Super Plumber guarantee you’ll be satisfied with their work or they’ll re-do the repair for free, plus they offer regular rates from 8am to 8pm six days a week. They can check on your water heater, filtration systems, drainage, plumbing, sewers, septic, gas fittings, and more.
Be Ready to Detect
Make sure your home is covered in terms of detection of fires, carbon monoxide, and radon. You’ll want ample detectors installed in your home to sense smoke and carbon monoxide leaks. Place a detector in every major area of the home. Regularly check that the batteries are working. Radon needs to be tested using a kit. It is an odourless gas that can lead to lung cancer from radioactive particles.
Go Green at Home
There are many ways to be more eco-conscious at home. Check out this handy list of easy things to do at home and as part of yours and your family’s lifestyle, including integrating reusable materials, eating less meat, making the most of leftovers, cooking by using less energy, installing low flow (but ample pressure) fixtures, switching to LEDs, and more.
Rely on Experts
There are many parts of home care that are easy to do yourself, but when it comes to bigger jobs that you either feel unsure or unsafe about doing, or you want to make sure that it’s done properly, rely on professionals to take care of it. It may cost a bit more, but it will be well worth preventing an emergency or paying for costly damage that your insurance doesn’t cover, down the line.
