Avoid £1000s In Winter Home Repairs NOW With These Hacks
- The summer months are generally cheaper in terms of house maintenance
- However when winter comes, homeowners can wind up facing unexpected problems
- Consumer Expert Tom Church shares the checks to complete NOW to avoid paying out £100s or even £1,000s for winter home repairs
- Tricks include insulating your pipes, keeping an eye on the roof and checking for window cracks
Summer is the time of year we’re all outside our homes, going on holiday or sitting in the sunshine. However, once we’re bunkered down under the duvet during the winter, the last thing we want to deal with is a burst pipe, leaking roof or broken boiler.
Consumer Expert Tom Church, Co-Founder of money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘It’s easy to forget about home maintenance when the sun is shining outside, but preventive care is vital if you want to dodge expensive call-out fees during a winter emergency. Here’s your checklist of what to keep an eye on right now so you can avoid that unwelcome bill.’
Insulate External Pipes - Avoid £300 Emergency Plumber
We’ve all heard of someone who struggled with frozen pipes that burst in the winter, but you don’t want to be one of them. To avoid this issue, it’s best to put in the work now. If you’re looking to protect a home you won’t be spending the colder months in, consider turning off the water supply and draining the pipes. These steps will ensure your pipes are protected over the winter and you won’t be risking water damage. Alternatively, a step you can take for your pipes at home is insulation. That’s because, although you may think pipes burst the moment they freeze, the bursting actually happens at a point between the freezing and a closed faucet. You’re looking at extensive water damage if you’re particularly unlucky, and according to Check A Trade the average cost of repairing a leaking pipe in the UK is £300. To avoid these costs, insulate your pipes this summer by picking up foam tubes at a hardware store like B&Q and wrapping them around the pipes.
Check Roof For Heatwave Damage - Avoid £100s In Winter Repair Costs
You may not think about the state of your roof too often, but the reality is that a heatwave or two in the summer, followed by a drop in temperature, can result in cracks and then leaks. What’s more, the hot sun beating down on your roof can lead to roof materials becoming blistered and cracked. That means shingles and tiling could come loose or fall away. Check A Trade indicates that the costs for repairing or replacing a roof tile begin at £200, and you’re looking at similar pricing for leak repairs. This is a cost you definitely want to avoid, so besides regularly examining your roof, two more steps you can take are installing vapour barriers and coating and sealing your roof. You’ll likely want to get a professional out for such a job to ensure it’s done properly, but this measure is preferable to being stuck with a leaking roof and emergency call-outs!
Carry Out Annual Boiler Safety Check Now - Avoid £500 Engineer Fees
We may almost forget about our boilers during the summer when we don’t need to heat our homes, but preventive care is better than realising you need to get it repaired right as you’re beginning to shiver under your blanket. In a worst-case scenario, you may even need a full boiler replacement, so it’s far preferable to keep it well maintained and get small repairs done before they escalate. Booking in your annual boiler service now is much better than waiting until the colder months, when engineer call-outs will be skyrocketing. According to My Builder, fixes can cost as much as £500 if you encounter an issue such as a damaged heat exchanger, so it’s best to keep an eye on these problems in advance.
Monitor Subsidence With A Chartered Surveyor - Avoid £15,000 Treatment
Subsidence is arguably one of the most severe problems a house can encounter - after all, a building with structural damage is difficult to sell and expensive to manage. The bad news is that heat waves increase the chances of subsidence occurring drastically, as one of the causes is dry spells that result in the ground underneath a house losing moisture and shrinking. Signs to look out for include cracks in the walls or ceilings, wallpaper rippling where damp isn’t a problem and doors and windows sticking. The best course of action is to monitor the situation with a chartered surveyor, where they will recommend treatment such as cutting back trees and bushes and repairing damaged pipes and drains. If left untreated, cracks can get bigger and options such as underpinning the foundations may become necessary. According to Homebuilding & Renovating, the average ballpark figure for underpinning a standard house is between £10,000 and £15,000, while pointing cracks or replacing bricks costs around £300, so it’s worth staying on top of these issues to save some serious cash.
Repair Damaged Window Seals Early & Pay Over Half Price On Professional Fees
The warmer weather can affect another part of your home that you may overlook - the windows. As the sun beams down, the glass will expand and pressure is applied to the window seal. The temperature then drops overnight and the glass will cool down and shrink. With this process repeating itself over time, the seal can fail. You’ll want to look out for fogged up windows, which indicates there is moist air coming in between the glass panes and causing condensation on the windows. There are a few ways you can reduce the chances of window seal failure, such as keeping your windows clean, avoiding the use of pressure washers in this area and checking them regularly. In extreme cases, windows can warp and crack, requiring them to be completely replaced. According to Check A Trade, the average materials and labour costs for window seal replacement amount to £42.50, while if you need to replace a blown window the average cost is £100 - so you can save £60 by catching this issue early.
Save £100s On Chimney Flashing Repair With Regular Maintenance
If you’ve got an older house, you may have a chimney, and chances are you don’t know your way around it. However, if your house is at least a few decades old, it’s going to be worth remembering what chimney flashing is. In a nutshell, it’s the metal around a chimney which protects it from the elements. It’s usually made from aluminium, lead or copper. The average lifespan is 30 years if it’s installed properly, but if you begin to notice dripping, rust stains, discoloured bricks and leaking it may be time to get some repairs done. Check A Trade indicates that repairing existing flashing can cost up to £550, but replacing all of the flashing can cost up to £800. You can reduce costs by keeping an eye on the flashing - simple fixes include reattaching it if it’s loose, filling holes with roof cement and re-caulking.
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This is really good and important information regarding basic home maintenance. I will print this off to show to a builder, etc