Whether living in a rented apartment or owning your property, maintaining it is very important. On a regular occurrence, you should be carrying out maintenance checks to ensure everything is working as it should be, otherwise, something could crop up, which could have been avoided.
The main benefit of maintaining your home is to keep it a nice place to live in. By looking after your property, you will also save yourself money, as you will reduce the chances of needing someone to come in to fix something, as neglect can cause bigger issues down the line – if you aren’t looking after your roof tiles, you could risk a leak coming through.
Having a selection of equipment essentials will help you be more efficient when performing some of the checks. The main benefit is that you can do the job better and it will save you time. For example, having a Dual Camera Borescope will make inspecting things a lot easier.
To help you with looking after your property, we have put together a homeowners guide to efficient maintenance.
Garden Equipment
The garden is something a lot of people leave until last, as it’s not necessarily a priority, however, it is still an essential and something you should look to maintain. When the grass is overgrown, the patio dirty and your fences discoloured (due to bad weather), your garden can look unappealing and be a place you don’t want to enter, instead of a relaxing sanctuary.
To get your garden up and running, there are a few pieces of equipment you should have as an essential. A lawn mower is the obvious one as you can cut the grass with it, a strimmer is also useful as you can cut the borders and a power washer is extremely useful to clean your outside flooring. A luxury item which can come in handy would be a leaf blower, but it’s not necessarily essential for your real estate cleaning.
Power Tools
Power tools can be expensive, but in some situations, they will be needed. What a lot of people tend to do is collect their power tools over time, this way you don’t have to pay out for all of them at once. Depending on the usage you expect to get out of them, you could look to buy them second-hand from an online marketplace, like Facebook Marketplace. The basics to consider would be a cordless drill, a power sander, and a jigsaw. You could be using these to attach screws or bolts to the wall, fix any damage your furniture may have over time, and cut into wood for repairs or any DIY jobs you might want to try.
Home Cleaning Appliances
Keeping your home clean is important as this will reduce the risk of mold appearing or animals getting in. Mold can be very bad, especially if you are breathing it in, as it can cause respiratory problems. Every homeowner should have a hoover to go over the floors with. An electric mop is useful as it can clean and kill germs on your wooden or laminate flooring (some electric mops can be used to clean the carpet as well). We would recommend buying an extension ladder as you will need this to check on your guttering as well as to get on your roof to go over your tiles. Other home cleaning items that you may want to get include a plunger, the rain unblocked, and a dehumidifier. If it snows a lot where you live, a snow shovel or ice scraper may also come in handy.
Basic Tools
Having a selection of basic tools can be very useful as they aren’t too expensive and you never know when one of them might come in handy. A quick trip to Ikea or your local DIY shop and you’ll find a basic toolbox that is affordable and has all the essentials. Essentials may include a hammer, tape measure, screwdrivers, pliers, different size screws, and a torch. You’ll always use a screwdriver, especially when taking things apart to fix and a hammer is going to be useful when hanging things on the wall. Just like your power tools, over time you can start building on your basic equipment and gain a greater collection with different variations. If you ever get stuck and require a basic tool, your friends or family members may have one that you can borrow.
Safety Equipment
There isn’t any harm in having a selection of safety equipment at home, for when you are carrying out your maintenance tasks. Having gloves in is useful when you are going to be touching things that are dirty or cleaning out areas of your home like your gutters. A dust mask is useful when you are painting or working with any harmful chemicals, such as cleaning supplies and safety glasses should be worn when using your power drill, in case something flicks off of it, into your eyes.
Having a first aid kit is something everyone should have. Accidents can happen at any point (although we hope one doesn’t happen) so by having one in, you can quickly use it should you need to. You can easily order one online and you should also have one in your car at the same time.
You’ll never regret having equipment essentials. Whatever you collect over time will always get used at one point and in a lot of instances, when you least expect to use it. Marketplaces are a great place to look if you are happy with second-hand items, alternatively, wait until the sales as often DIY shops will reduce their prices on special occasions, like the January sales.
What equipment essentials do you recommend others have for their home? Which of the above pieces of equipment do you currently own and will you be buying more? Is there anything missing in our guide that you think we should be adding? Let us know in the comment box below, we look forward to hearing from you.
