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4 Home repairs you haven’t prepared for

4 Home repairs you haven’t prepared for

Home repairs are just a fact of life that you’re going to have to deal with. All homes need a bit of maintenance now and again but it’s not too much of a problem if you’re just making a few small fixes here and there. But it’s the big problems that cost a lot of money that you really need to watch out for. These are the big home maintenance issues that you aren’t prepared for.

Foundation Problems

If you’ve got an issue with the foundation of your house, it can make the entire building unsafe to live in. It’s not always as bad as that but it’s not something that you can just put off. One of the first warning signs of foundation issues is cracks in the wall. Most people just assume that it’s just the paint cracking and they don’t think much of it. Sometimes, they might be right and there’s nothing to worry about. But in some cases, it’s a sign that there are problems with the foundations of the house. Water is a big cause of foundation damage so you should always make sure that you’ve got good drainage around the house. Unfortunately, you can’t always avoid it and it might cost you upwards of $10,000 to get it fixed. But if you take action and get it checked out as soon as you notice cracks in the walls, you can get it sorted cheaper.

Pests

Pests in the home can cause a lot of damage in a very short space of time. If you’ve got termites, for example, they can quickly eat their way through your house and it’ll cost you a lot of money to fix the damage. When you notice the first signs of pests, don’t just leave it and hope that they’ll go away. Always call a pest control company to have a look, even if you’re not sure. It’s better to call them out and find that there aren’t any pests there than it is to leave it and end up with an infestation on your hands.

Exterior Damage

In older properties, the brickwork on the exterior of the house can get damaged and in the worst cases, you’ll get water leaking through the walls. Even if it doesn’t get that bad, it might make the home harder to heat. It’s easy to get around this if you give the exterior a new coat of paint every now and again and repair the brickwork if necessary. Sprucing up the outside of the house is also a good way to add value to the house as well, so it’s worth doing regularly.

Roof Damage

Roof damage is one of the worst things that can happen to your home. If you don’t notice it right away, you’re going to get water leaking through and that’s going to cause damp problems throughout the house. Roof damage isn’t one of those problems that you can just leave for a while, it’s vital that you get it sorted out right away.

If you’re not prepared for these home repairs, you’re going to get hit with a big home repair bill out of nowhere.



Christine Buske is a former academic who left science at the bench, and now considers herself a woman in tech. She is a frequently invited speaker, and enjoys talking about career transformation (particularly leaving academia for the business world), tech, issues around women in tech, product management, agile, and outreach. She is a proud Canadian resident, and qualifies as a "serial expat".

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