The jobs that stop the expensive ones happening. None of these is interesting and all of them are cheaper than the thing they prevent.
Monthly
- Wipe the washing machine door seal and leave the door ajar. See
- Descale the kettle in a hard water area. See kitchen.
- Check tyre pressures. See car care.
- Run the taps in any room you rarely use, to keep the drain traps wet and the smell out.
Quarterly
- Clean the washing machine filter and the dishwasher filter.
- Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. CO is odourless and its symptoms look like flu.
- Clean extractor fan grilles, which is what stops them extracting.
- Check the loft in heavy rain, which is when a roof problem announces itself.
Twice a year
- Clear gutters, autumn and spring. Overflowing gutters are the most common cause of
penetrating damp on a British house, and it looks exactly like rising damp to anyone selling a damp course.
- Bleed the radiators before the heating season.
- Check external sealant and pointing.
- Service the boiler, annually, by someone Gas Safe registered.
The principle
Water is what destroys houses, and it always gets in at the same places: gutters, roofs, seals, and around windows. Ten minutes on a gutter in October is worth more than anything else on this page.