A House is not a Home
A home is always part of everyone’s dream. It symbolizes stability and security that no other possession can provide. A house is a sanctuary for the weary body. It is a place where dreams are built and the future is forged. That is why people spend a better part of their adult life planning, saving and preparing to buy a house.
Acquiring a physical, concrete-made house is just the first and the easy part. Transforming the structure into a home for you and your family is a bigger challenge. There are many beautiful houses in plush neighborhoods, but they are far from being homes. There are smaller housing units in city centers yet they live true to the essence of being a home.
What makes a house a home? It starts with the people who live in the house. An individual, a couple, a group or a family can turn a house into a home. By coexisting and interacting with each other, they create a positive atmosphere conducive for rest, recreation and exploration of ideas and thoughts. People who live together but do not talk to each other will never be at home. They live in a house, and have a bed, but they do not thrive in a home.
A home generates a goodwill and positive contribution to the neighborhood. It does not exist alone in a street. Rather, it blends with the neighbors in both aesthetics and in the spirit of friendship. Homes do not exist on its one. They are shared with friends and neighbors who may come to visit and bring good wishes to the occupants of the house. A home has a door welcoming guests, relatives and friends. It is not closed all the time, but is open to all those who enter in peace.
Finally, a home is a home within. Accents, furniture, appliances and decorations make a house a recluse for people tired from work and coming home from a long day. People find solace in their homes. When they are tired, they go home as fast as they can to their beds. When they are having problems, they may shut themselves in their bedrooms. Great ideas at work emanate from warm homes. It is essential for homes to be warm as a hug and comfortable as an embrace.
A home does not come together with a house. It is made by people living in it and maintained by the community surrounding it.
Saving Your Home’s Glamour
One of the biggest investments a family is willing to pursue is buying a place that they can call their own – places that will later become their abode and shelter for their next generations. However, as mortal as human beings will age, our homes will wither through time as much as we don’t like it to happen. Therefore, it is only right to have proper preventive maintenance for our houses.
Preventive maintenance is an effective way of home maintenance. It does not only cost less than the corrective maintenance but is also a fun and enjoyable activity which can promote bonding and camaraderie among the members of the family.
Home maintenance can be categorized by activities. It can be interior or exterior jobs or by a home system such as electrical, cooling and heating, or plumbing. It is only better to have a checklist of activities and determine the perfect timing to do such activities. There are many guidelines readily available in the Internet, but they mostly harass us with too much information when we only need to know the basics.
First we need to know the schedules of maintenance and what activities to do:
Monthly Maintenance – it is a scheduled maintenance usually done once a month.
- Plumbing – this is the most common problem in American households. A preventive maintenance for this is to repair minor drips and leaks in the faucet to prevent major water problems in the future.
- Heating – most American houses have chimneys in them so it is best to clean it once a month by removing creosote by scrapers or chimney brush. It is also best to clean the stove between the pipe and the chimney.
- Cooling – cleaning the cooling system’s air filter prevents dirt from accumulating inside the house. Regular changing of filters is also helpful.
- Electrical – checking breakers and fuses prevents short circuits and fire in the house. It is best to call electricians to do the changing of fuse or breakers.
Yearly Maintenance – it is a scheduled maintenance usually done annually.
- Electric Water Heaters – clean the heating elements with vinegar and scrape off any mineral deposits.
- Smoke Alarms – clean any accumulated dirt from the sensing chamber.
- Septic Tank – check its sludge level and if it reaches 1/3 of its depth already, then it is time to clean it with a professional pump.
- Air Conditioner – clean the entire air-conditioning unit.
- Gas Space Heaters – make sure that lines are clean and clear.
- Walks and Driveways – repair breaks and clean erosions to prevent damages to your cars.
- House Painting – check if the house paints are already blistered. Repaint if necessary.
- House Exterior Structures – check and repair any damages in the house’s joints, walls, gates, and fences.
- House Interior – check any laminated tiles, broken doors and windows, and cabinets. Have them replaced and repaired before it can cause further damage and accidents.
Seasonal Maintenance – it is a scheduled maintenance usually done that will fit the season of the year.
- Fall
→ check gas furnace
→ seal any opening in the attic fan
→ check and repair any damage in the fireplace damper
→ clean the wood burning heater
→ inspects the outside of the chimney for any damage breaks and repairs it
→ make sure water lines are safe from freezing
→ clean the heating and cooling system regularly.
- Spring
→ check attic fan if is still working, replace it if needed
→ clean gas heater’s exhaust vent from dust and dirt
→ clean gutters from debris
→ replace worn storm windows
→ refill water softener with salts
→ repair broken air vents and louvers for free air movement.
These tips and guides help us prevent damages in our precious shelters, but it does not mean that one has to do all of these. One has to make a way to preserve the beauty of his house to prolong the life span of the house and the lives of the ones under that roof as well. Feeling safe inside the house is a nice feeling for the family for it is said that there is no better place than home. So value your home and preserve its glamour.