Household Maintenance Tasks You’ll Regret If You Procrastinate Fixing Now
Household Maintenance Tasks You’ll Regret If You Procrastinate Fixing NowWe have all done it. We have put off until tomorrow something that could have been done today. Often it seems as if there is no cost to procrastination, but we know better.
In overcoming procrastination, Stephen Richards wrote that habitual procrastinators would readily testify to all the missed deadlines, failed relationships, lost opportunities, and even monetary losses incurred because of one nasty behavior habit of putting things off till it is often too late.
When it comes to home repairs, laziness can strike you at some point or another. Whereas it might feel good at the moment to avoid your homeownership responsibilities, the truth is that putting off these comparatively quick fixes will cost you an absurd amount of money and time in the long run.
Your home is not going to completely collapse since you still have not painted that wall in the living room, after all. However, that crack in the ceiling almost doubled in size since you first spotted it can be easy to shrug off more significant issues.
Let us look at some examples of home repairs that, if put off until tomorrow, can be costly and four ways to break the habit.
A leaky sink
The worst part about living with a leaky sink is how fast, easy, and inexpensive the fix is. Whenever one of the sinks begins to drip, call a local repair service, and they will fix your sink in no time.
Nonetheless, the longer you let the drip in your sink go, the worst it will get for you. First, remember that all that water is going to waste; this isn’t good for the environment and you. A faucet can leak twenty gallons of water every day, and you better believe that is going to make an effect on your water bill. Secondly, the continual moisture in your sink is likely to encourage the growth of mold and mildew, which can stain your tile and sink (at best) or cause deadly health issues (at worst). It might not appear like a major issue, but a leaky sink needs fixing fast.
A buzzing outlet
Your house’s electrical system is something you should not have to think about- not unless something is going strange. Any spark or sound coming from any end component of your electrical system, which incorporates both switches and outlets and hardwired lights or electronics, is a sign that a component of the box is not as it should be. It can be that something is loose and requires to be tightened, or it can be that the fixture has become old and gone bad.
When justify alone, that buzzing will get louder, and the outlet or switch may stop working; however, that is not the worst effect. The bad component can result in an electric arc. If the arc touches anything flammable, your house will catch fire, which will endanger everyone and everything inside. Nonetheless, the arc could also connect to a living thing nearby, like you, a loved one or pet, seriously injuring or killing them. It is worth your time, effort, and money to get that buzzing sound investigated by a qualified electrician stat.
A sticking door
As long as you have to throw all your weight in the handle to shove open a door- swinging or sliding- something is seriously amiss. By keeping on using a sticking door, you risk harming yourself (by throwing out your back or pulling a muscle), harming the door (by breaking the handle, the frame, or some other component) or creating a permanently stuck door. In all situations, you will have to shell out a significant sum for a fix.
When sticking occurs to sliding glass doors, the most common issue is that some debris is confined on the track and jamming the wheels. It is simple enough to clean the tracks with a scrub brush and vacuum. In typical swinging doors, sticking is caused by any number of issues, to incorporate swollen wood from misaligned hinges or high-humidity. Nonetheless, sticking doors and windows can be a sign of a foundation issue, and the sooner you get that problem checked, the better.
Pests
Have you found some dead bugs in your house, or notice an unusual smell somewhere in one of your rooms? Do not ignore household maintenance jobs either- it can be a sign that you have a pest infestation. If a suspect pest infestation is justify on its own, the results can be catastrophic. Pests like bed bugs and termites multiply at an extraordinarily fast rate, and after they have got past a specific number, you will find it impossible to keep on top of them on your own. You might even have to move out of your home for a few days while the pest control team is solving the issue. By hiring a pest control team at the first sign of any pests, you can avoid this.
Failed heating system
Is anything worse than not having any heating? It can be especially tiresome during winter; however, a lack of hot water can be a pain all year round. If you realize anything is amiss about your boiler or water, there are a few things you can do. It can be an issue with the local area, so reach out to your local authority to see if there has been an issue. You can also consider the weather. If the temperature is very cold, there is a possibility that your pipes could be frozen. If justify alone, these pipes can eventually explode, so ensure you do something about it- such as getting hold of some pipe heat tracing as soon as you can.
Cracks in ceilings/ walls
That crack may have been there for as long as you can remember; however, that does not mean you should ignore it. Of course, some wall cracks are simply external blemishes. On the other hand, some cracks can indicate a structural issue, which can end up being severe. Water damage and the shifting of foundations can all cause wall cracks, so you should contact a professional as soon as possible to be on the safe side.
A dirty refrigerator or freezer
Anything that gets into contact with food must be kept immaculately clean; however, you might not know how to clean your freezer and fridge thoroughly as they need to work well and keep your food safe. A wipe-down once in a while is good; however, you also need to pull your unit out to vacuum and scrub below and behind. This is because you have to be sure the appliance’s condenser coils are kept free of debris, forcing the unit to work harder, thus reducing its lifespan. The same applies to all that ice buildup on the inside of your freezer; it stops the unit from cooling effectively, so you have to defrost regularly. You can either spend an hour cleaning your freezer every six months, or you can pay $3,000 for a new fridge in several years- it is your choice.
Why preventive home maintenance is better than procrastinating?
Possibly the biggest reason for procrastinating maintenance is budget limitations, owing to homeowners’ laziness and cost-saving efforts. However, if it saves a little money in the short term, it usually costs more in the long run.
When a repair is delayed on something- an egress door- it might still be subject to the occupants’ daily use. Eventually, repairs become replacements, and replacements often take longer and cost more than repairs. This is often true for machines where a small replacement part or tune-up now can prevent a full system replacement in three years, and for rust and water problems, which keep on growing until something is done.
The cost of procrastination maintenance might be hard to pin down exactly; however, it can be many times that of the early repair cost. Remember that old saying a stitch in time saves nine; but, with a house in which people live. The cost of procrastination cannot be put entirely in money terms since it can affect the occupants in many ways.
4 Ways to overcome procrastination of home repairs
So we have put off home repairs at one time or another. Sometimes the repair seemed too big. Other times you did not have money. Whatever the reason, there is no reason that you can not overcome the tendency to procrastinate home repairs.
Remember that no task gets better with time
Even if it is a leaky roof or a dirty refrigerator, its causes will not go away. In fact, most get bigger. So the sooner you fix it, the easier the job will be.
No one is born that way
We have all put off things, and some of us have made it a habit. That does not mean that we are cosmically predestined always to procrastinate. Start the repair, and you will see that you can do it.
No repair is too nasty
We all have tasks that we do not like. Procrastinating them does not make them more agreeable. Manage just a small portion of the repair. After that is done, you will know that you will finish soon.
Have a preventive maintenance strategy
It is often the homeowners who want to save every penny and the engineers who wish for more funding for preventive maintenance. According to experts, between two and six percent of a home operating budget should be allocated to preventive maintenance to maximize a property’s longevity. That might not sound like much money to you, but to a homeowner trying to cut expenses, it might.
