THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTENANCE
10/3/2024 - 2 MIN
The design and build of a home is the foundation of a healthy home, but homeowner maintenance plays a very critical role as well.
Here are some patterns between homeowners and maintenance of their homes:
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Maintenance gets hard, and when things get hard, you don’t want to do it, or it gets forgotten. (This is me and cars. Guilty.)
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You don’t know who to call to fix the problem, then the above issue sets in.
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There is an assumption that the home will take care of itself. (This is so far from the truth.)
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If you see something, and don't do something about it, small problems become big and expensive problems. Example:
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You see 2 nickel sized discolored spots on your ceiling. They are small so you don’t think anything of it.
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What you don’t understand is that the roof flashing caulk had failed, letting in bulk water into the roof and wall framing.
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The moisture in the framing couldn’t dry, so a toxigenic mold started growing in the roof and wall cavities.
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Now the occupants start experiencing health issues, and after the problem escalates and the underlying issues are found, remediation becomes necessary (which is NOT cheap and very stressful).
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This is a true story and unfortunately, a fairly common one.
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Education, a good list of resources, and a change of perspective can help with issues described above. The change of perspective can help with the other two, so we’ll start there.
Let’s play pretend for a minute (sorry I can’t help it, I’m a mom of 2).
Your house is a human child, but it lives outside all the time with no shelter. (Remember from What is Building Science - nature is constantly trying to tear your house down!). Its parts and pieces are like that of a human. Let’s call it the anatomy of a house:
The roof, it’s head
The windows and doors, it’s eyes, ears and nose
The siding it’s skin
The framing, it’s bones
The HVAC, it’s lungs
The plumbing, it’s urinary and digestive systems
The electrical, it’s nervous system
The foundation, it’s feet and legs
This child cannot take care of itself. It needs someone else to help take care of it. You are the lucky one! The cool thing about this child, is that if you take care of it, it can take care of you too. It can give you shelter, keep you safe, and keep you healthy. It can provide you with a place to unwind, a place to celebrate, a place of memories.
Just like any human though, this child needs regular check-ups. Having a basic knowledge of how homes are built can clue you in on who to call if something goes wrong (like a doctor), but a deeper understanding will give you that much more power on preventing problems down the road (like practicing wellness).
Building a home gives you the advantage of knowing your house inside and out. During our builds we have meetings and walk throughs with our homeowners, so they understand the anatomy of their house. We also give out a home maintenance cheat sheet at the end of the project to help set them up for success.
Sometimes the professionals can do it better.