Pointers for beginners

Could anyone point us to books/guides/website/resources on the basics for home maintenance? It seems easy to find info when there is a specific repair to be done, but less so on maintenance — like should we be getting our boiler serviced yearly, when do we clean gutters, etc. I’m sure there are other super obvious things we are not even aware of. We’ve just purchase our first house — a 90 years old brick one-family with basement and attic. I’m never quite confident in most general/national websites/books as they tend to assume modern, standard construction. Or if you have any general tips and advice, it would be much appreciated!

pruitth

in General Discussion 10 years and 5 months ago

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shirleyamy | 10 years ago

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When it comes to getting tips for home maintenance, it is important to want DIY tv shows. I’ve learned a lot from them. Also, there are many articles in the websites where you’ll be able to get many ideas from.

pruitth | 10 years and 5 months ago

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Thank you all! As it turns out, I had ordered a used copy of the Readers Digest book a little while ago, and on receiving it I saw that it has some useful pages with maintenance tips and reminders.

honeycut | 10 years and 5 months ago

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A wonderful organization – Neighborhood Housing Services – holds Home Maintenance Training classes which are geared for first time homeowners a few times a year. I was already a handy person but as a first time homeowner was a little intimidated about some things and this class gave me the skills and confidence to tackle the basics and more. This is a fabulous organization – check them out! There are offices throughout New York/Brooklyn: http://www.nhsnyc.org/en/tools-and-resources/home-maintenance-tips/62-home-repair-tips

DouglasAlan | 10 years and 5 months ago

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Learn to love HGTV, DIY and other similar channels. Focus on home improvement, renovation, remodeling, etc. Mike Holmes is great, as is Scott McGillivray. If nothing else, you’ll get inspired and feel less inhibited to tackle jobs. Perhaps most importantly, you’ll find out what you don’t know so you know what questions to even ask. Aside from that, check out YouTube. I did half the gut reno on my bathroom based on what I saw in self-help videos.

catboot | 10 years and 5 months ago

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Redrobin, I think you can. After hearing of your fire I went back and registered all of our appliances and while I was at it, I checked to see if there was a recall on anything we own by checking the Consumer Product Safety Safety Commission website: www.cpsc.gov On that note, anyone with a dehumidifier in the cellar, you might want to check if there is a recall on your model. Apparently several different models were pulled because they caused fires. Yikes!

resident2 | 10 years and 5 months ago

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I am not sure if it is still in print, but a very good home maintenance book is: The Readers Digest Book of Home Maintenance. It very simply explains the whole structure, drainage issues, seasonal issues,the mechanical systems etc. Maybe you can find an old copy on Ebay or somewhere if it is no longer in print.

Guest User | 10 years and 5 months ago

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One thing I would definitely recommend, which isn’t what your asking, is to research all the appliances that came with your house, assuming you bought a house with a kitchen. In Sep we had a fire in our kitchen, which turned out to be caused by the microwave that came with our house and turned out to be on a recall list. Write down all the make, model and serial numbers of your appliances and call the manufacturers. I’d even see if you can register the products even though you didn’t purchase them. The person who inspected our house supposedly checked our appliances, and in fact I get a monthly emails from him, including whether or not anything has been recalled, but needless to say, we were never told about a problem with our microwave.

rh | 10 years and 5 months ago

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Good questions! Not sure if there’s an “ultimate guide” to home maintenance for the 1st time homeowner, but I always refer to the inspector’s report throughout the renovations. I check off every little thing on that list, no matter how mundane. Those reports aren’t just useful for negotiations. It’s a great learning tool specifically tailored for your house! Also, my bible for the first few years of home ownership was that big orange Home Depot book called “Home Improvement 123”. If you want to put your name on the Reclaimed Home mailing list, we hope to offer a series of “First Time Homeowner Kvetch” meetings in 2015\. There are also lots of tips on the blog. A example from 2008: http://reclaimedhome.com/2008/01/02/maintain-your-home-in-2008/ Good luck and congratulations!