Home Maintenance For Dummies, 2nd Edition

by Carey, James

  Make sure you know which plug or light belongs to which fuse or breaker. At any hardware store or home center, you can buy a simple circuit locator device that allows you to do this test quickly and conveniently. Then, in the event of a smoky circuit, you can turn off the breaker and prevent a fire without having to shut down the whole house.

  Painting

  Painting provides a protective coating to a surface, preventing rot and deterioration and making for easy cleaning. Doing it right and doing it well couldn’t be more important. Outside, the ultraviolet rays of the sun and water from rain, snow, and irrigation can destroy the home’s exterior. A solid coat of paint looks good, but more important, it’s a barrier between your home and Mother Nature. Interior painting is equally important to protect your home against everyday wear and tear. If walls and trim are beyond cleaning, it’s time to paint.

  Painting well requires two basic steps:

  1. Prepare the surface.

  Preparation (sanding, caulking, and cleaning) constitutes 80 percent of a paint job, and it’s key to a good final finish.

  2. Paint.

  Use the best paint money can buy. The longer the paint lasts, the less often you’ll find yourself with a paintbrush in hand. Test paint by rubbing your thumb and index fingers together in the paint. If it’s smooth and silky, it’s good paint. If it fells gritty, buy something else.

  If you want more information on painting, check out Painting Do-It-Yourself For Dummies, by Katharine Kaye McMillan, PhD, and Patricia Hart McMillan (Wiley).

  Knowing How to Shut Things Off

  When we covered the Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco two decades ago, we discovered that much of the danger to life and limb did not result from the earthquake. Instead, broken water and gas lines exposed residents to costly floods and deadly fires. Folks didn’t know how to shut down these services — or even that shutting them down was important.

  Here’s how to shut down the major lines coming into your home:

  Water: Depending on where you live, you either have a water meter valve or a main shut-off valve. Water meters and main shut-off valves are generally located somewhere near the edge of your property. Additionally, you should have a water shut-off valve at your home. In most cases the easiest valve to shut off is the round faucet handle at your house. However, this can take almost a minute.

  You may want to replace your old-style round faucet handle with a quarter-turn ball valve. In less than a second, you can have the water completely off and be on your way to safety.

  Electricity: Every home typically has one breaker (the main breaker) that shuts off all the electricity. You need to know where the main breaker (or fuse) is and how to shut the breaker off.

  Never shut off a breaker when you’re standing in a puddle of water.

  Gas: Find out where the gas meter is on your property and what size wrench is necessary to turn it off. Most hardware stores carry the type of wrench needed for the gas meters in your neck of the woods. We suggest purchasing such a tool and tying it to the gas meter, so you won’t have to go looking for it if and when an emergency arises. (Note: Modern gas-meter installations include an automatic earthquake shut-off valve.)

  Make sure every member of your household knows where all these items are located and how to turn them off. When in doubt, turn everything off. Some systems may by slightly difficult to turn on later, but it doesn’t ever hurt your home to turn everything off in an emergency.

  Venting Moisture from Your Home

  Damp air, condensation, and steam are nothing more than various forms of house-damaging water. Metal rusts, mildew thrives, wallpaper peels, and paint bubbles when any form of moisture attacks. That’s why it’s important to have ample ventilation.

  Start with a good bath fan and a more powerful range hood. And don’t forget to ensure that there is an exhaust fan in the laundry. Wherever steam is generated in your home, there should be an exhaust fan to properly remove it.

  A decorative paddle fan is another important tool. Moisture often occurs in the form of condensation on windows and walls — you know “sweaty windows” and “sweaty walls.” A ceiling-mounted decorative paddle fan run in reverse forces air up to the ceiling and then down the walls, absorbing moisture and preventing all forms of mildew, rot, and rust from growing on what would otherwise be a feeding ground for the fungus among us.

  Replacing Filters and Cleaning Sensors

  Filters and sensors exist everywhere in your home. If we asked you to name a filter, you’d probably say “furnace filter.” And you’d be right — the furnace filter is one of the most important of the bunch. But there are more.

  Here’s our list of the most common filters and sensors and how often to clean or replace them:

  Furnace filter: Change monthly. Pleated filters are the best.

  To test the quality of a filter, hold the filter horizontally (like a platter) and pour regular table salt onto it. If the salt passes through, replace the filter.

  Range-hood filter: Clean every couple of months deepening on how often you cook and how much frying you do. (More frying equals more frequent cleaning, because grease can build up and clog the filter.)

  Bath or laundry exhaust fan: Clean every six months. (We know, the grate that covers the fan is not a filter per se, but a dirty cover can still wreak havoc with the system.)

  Refrigerator filter: Replace in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Besides, who wants dirty ice?

  Smoke-detector sensor: Vacuum twice a year. Open the unit and use your vacuum cleaner hose with a soft brush attachment. You may also use compressed air — like the kind you use to clean your computer keyboard.

  Whole-house filters: Change at least once a year. You may find that your water tastes better if you change the filter every six months. Filters trap debris and bacteria that can eventually affect the taste of water that passes through it.

  Dryer filter: Clean it every time you use the dryer, and clean the chamber that holds the filter at least once a quarter. A long skinny nozzle on the end of your vacuum cleaner hose is all it takes.

  Checking On the Chimney

  Nothing is as romantic as a crackling fire. And nothing can level your house faster than the explosion and raging fire from a creosote-laden chimney. Save the fireworks for the fairgrounds on the Fourth of July. Call a chimney sweep to thoroughly clean your chimney at least once a year or after every cord of burned wood.

  Here are some chimney-related maintenance tasks you can do yourself:

  Make sure the damper is in proper working order by ensuring that it opens and closes easily.

  Keep birds’ nests and other debris from blocking the spark arrestor atop your chimney.

  If you notice cracks in the mortar or brick, don’t use your fireplace until the cracks are repaired — that is, unless you like loud explosions.