Preventive home maintenance

If your house is getting a little aged, mine is about 30 years, a hint that can save you some bucks. If you have an upstairs tub or shower, remove the drain in the bottom of the fixture and replace the plumbers putty that goes under the flange. Never occurred to me and this morning I got up to about a 12" diameter brown, wet spot on the ceiling of the dining room. After the look up on you tube, it seems at least 90% of these type leaks are from the drain. When I removed the drain, the original putty was just crumbs, no integrity at all. It’s easy to do and bunches of you tube videos showing how.

To be on the safe side, I also pulled the flanges on the cold and hot water supply to look in and they both appeared dry.

Another advantage of a ranch style house and unfinished basement. Still… good advice to check

Also replacing all the rubber hoses that go to toilets, sinks, washers etc is a good thing to replace. They are pretty cheap and easy to replace and can save you buckets of money in the event one bursts. You could probably replace them all for less than $100.

Another thing is keep good paint on the house. This prevents the penetration from the outside and you will get longer life out of siding. My dad was commenting on this in his neighborhood. The homes are about 15 years old and some are showing signs of rot in the eves. My did DIY a good paint job many years ago and his still looks new. Others are going to be out a couple grand to have their trim replaces assuming there is not interior water damage.

I replaced my floor (including sub floor and floor joists) in my house a few years ago. When I had the floor opened up, I ran new pex water lines and new propane lines under the house. Now when I get ready for the bathroom remodels, the lines are already in place and I don’t have to crawl in the crawl space to do it.

Also, a ranch style house is nice to have when you get older.

Once your house is 15+ years old, budget to replace one appliance a year.

Although–people here keep saying water heaters least 6-10 years. We’re at 21+ and counting.

I called this house my forever house. It’s all on one level in the basement access is in the garage so I can’t accidentally fall down the basement stairs at night

Stairs are for young people. IDK why anyone over 60 would want them.

There are apps you can get now to check in on you if you live alone. When my kid goes off to college in a few years, I’m wondering if I should get one. A fall in the shower or while working out and they’re finding my smelly body in several days.

You’re very lucky. Our initial water heaters lasted 8 years and their replacements lasted 14. Now on set 3. We replaced our refrigerator at 18, dishwasher at 9 and washer at 11 (current one now 11). Dryer still going at 22. We’re keeping the washer/dryer as along as we can keep them running because nearly all the new models are larger than ours and we have specific sized location for them. All the dryers now seem to be hinged on the right and we need one hinged on the left. We’ve been told that most no longer have doors that can be moved the other size.

We recently replaced our 35 year old chest freezer. We did get our money’s worth out of that one, and gave it our local repair guy who is still using it.

Plumber told me a water heater from a big box is usually good for 6-8 years. The ones from plumbing supply houses should last about twice as long. Of course they are more expensive than the big box.