Winter – At Home To Do List
After four years living in my current home, there is a noise that my ears have trained themselves to hear louder than any other. At 3am on Tuesday morning I heard that noise…above the sound of the rain on the roof, I could hear the sound of water dripping THROUGH the roof and onto the wooden floor boards! Never has owning my own home felt so frustrating, as when it rains too hard in Adelaide and I realise that the leaking roof is my responsibility! At 3am on Tuesday morning, as I now laid awake listening to the sound of four different sized saucepans catching the rain in a somewhat mesmerising cacophony of drips, I made a house maintenance to-do list in my mind. A list of the things that I usually put off in my house until it is too late (or until it is summer again…).
My Winter House To-Do List
Fix the Draughts
When we bought our house, we noticed that the previous owners had put an internal door as an external door to our courtyard. Over 4 years of direct sun, wind and rain this internal door had disintegrated at the bottom and was now letting in more of a gale than a draught! Likewise for the slightly ill-fitting windows and the gaps under the other external doors. So first on my Winter Home to-do, fix the gaps and stop the breeze! Draught stoppers and door seals make an unbelievable difference and I am keen to try out these foam gap fillers around the windows and doors that don’t quite fit their frames. For the doors that don’t get opened too often, I might even make one of these hilarious door snakes!
Service the Air Conditioner and Clean the Filters
As the mornings and evenings start to call for a little heater burst to take the chill out of the air, I remember what I put off as summer ended…clean the air conditioner filters! There are so many tutorials online that claim this is something that can easily be done DIY-Style, although this is a job that has been put off for too long in our house & I think we might be best to call in the experts to give it a good service.
Check the Roof for Leaks!!!
This one should have been number one on the list…but I didn’t realise that until it was too late! Upon inspection, it is clear where the water is pooling on our flat roof and seeping at a few points to the house. Our first step will be to fill any obvious gaps, but a longer-term solution may need to be investigated!
These few tasks should keep me and a few tradespeople busy for the winter!
If you have any lingering maintenance jobs that need to be completed, remember that Lifestyle Elements can arrange someone to come and fix the problem AND meet them at your house during business hours while you are at work! Contact us for more details – www.lifestyleelements.com.au