8 Important Things Every Homeowner Needs to Know

Are you a homeowner? Owning a house is a great privilege, especially in today’s climate of hard work and often little pay, but it also comes with a lot of responsibilities. You are now the king of your castle, which means you are responsible for how smoothly it all runs. Be sloppy, uncareful, and inattentive to potential issues, and things can quickly snowball out of control and into serious problems that might put the whole property in danger. To avoid all that nasty business, here are a few important things you should know as a homeowner.

Locating Leaks, and Shutting off the Water

It really does not take much water at all to cause serious, expensive damage, so you need to know how to locate leaks. In the event of a leaky pipe or a busted sewer pipe, you need to know where to shut off the water. To repair the damage, you may be covered for a sewer line repair under your home insurance, so check your insurance plans before going out on a limb. Shutting off the water could mean doing it at the source, such as the toilet water valve, or maybe even the water supply to the entire house.

Things Every Homeowner Needs to Know – Cleaning a Gutter

Sticks, leaves, pebbles, and other debris can gradually build up in your gutters, which can eventually cause damage to your roof or leaks inside your home. So, if possible, clean your gutters twice a year, or more if you have a lot of trees growing above your house, especially if they are pine trees, which shed their needles all year.

Pest Control

No one wants rats, cockroaches, or other pests in their new home, so knowing what pests are native to your area can help you decide what the best steps may be to keep them away. You should try to consult a professional to ensure that your pest control is safe for your family and any pets you may have.

Property Lines Locations

Now, this can become a huge headache, especially if your neighbors are less than ideal. Knowing where your property lines are located is important in case you want to install a fence or landscape, or even just to make sure you do not get taken advantage of by your neighbor, who may be trying to encroach on your yard. You can start to find them by getting a plot plan from your local city hall, or maybe even hiring a surveyor to mark the lines for you.

Securing Your Exterior

In this case, we mean making your home an unappealing target for would-be burglars and protecting it from break-ins. Keep your home well-lit with porch lights in both the front and the back, trim back hedges that could be used to hide in or behind, and make sure all your doors and windows are closed and locked every night. These are all the basics you can easily do, but if you want to be really careful and kick it up a notch, consider installing a home security system complete with cameras and alarms.

Changing The Locks

One of the first things you should do once you are in your new home is change the locks. This is also a crucial safety step and will help ensure that any keys that the previous owner had or gave away will not work in your new home. Of course, if your new home has just been built and you are the first owner, you can safely ignore this tip.

Where and How to Shut off Utilities

There are plenty of scenarios and situations that can require you to turn off the electricity, water, or gas in a certain spot of your home. For example, if you are installing a new light fixture, you will need to be able to turn off the circuit at the breaker so you do not electrocute yourself. Or perhaps you are installing a new gas stove; again, you have to know where and how to turn off the supply.

Exit Plan

And finally, having an exit plan in the event of an emergency, such as a fire or the like, is absolutely vital. Everyone in the family should know how to get out of the house as quickly and safely as possible, so create an exit plan with your family and practice it often so that it becomes almost second nature.

Of course, this is merely scratching the surface of what it means to be a homeowner and responsible for everything, but you should now have a working idea of what it all entails and a platform from which you can work.

Photo by Tetiana SHYSHKINA on Unsplash