A house is not merely a structure; it holds sentimental value as a place to find solace after long, busy days and create cherished memories with loved ones. Whether you’re looking to add a personal touch to your new family house or contemplating how to repair and rejuvenate your old family home, you’re in for a treat! In this guide, we’ll explore eight straightforward tasks you can accomplish with your family to breathe new life into your house. If you’re a novice in home repairs or seeking guidance on how to repair a house, you’ve come to the right place.
Your Septic System
You need a septic system if your house isn’t connected to a public sewer system. This will help you treat wastewater from various household chores, showers, sinks, and toilets, saving you a lot of money. Although a septic system’s size differs from home to home, a functional, standard septic system depends on factors such as the surrounding bodies and their nature, the landscape, soil texture, and your home’s size.
First, you need an underground sealed septic tank and a drain field. Essentially, wastewater flows into the septic tank, where heavy solid particles sink to the bottom while lighter solids, such as grease, rise to the top. The wastewater is then channeled to the drain field for further treatment through filtration, chemical processes, and decomposition. The drain field has a mesh wire or filter that prevents other solid particles and dirt from flowing in.
You may be thinking of repairing your old septic tank or constructing one from scratch, but then again, you’ve no idea how to repair a house. Consider talking to local contractors to get information on how to go about septic tank installation. This includes obtaining information on permits and legalities, soil tests to determine the absorption rates and suitability, especially if it’s a new install, materials required, and cost implications.
Septic installs are a delicate venture and may require professional expertise. However, there are simple repairs you can do to maintain your septic system for years to come. Fix leaking pipes, avoid overloading your septic system with too much water, inspect your tank regularly, and pump it every 3-5 years to prevent the sludge and other solid particles from clogging up the drain field.
Your Gutters
Fixing leaking gutters can help avoid severe water damage to your roofs, walls, and foundations. Easily secure your gutters by installing fascia hanger brackets to prevent them from falling off. Additionally, use a gutter cover to prevent dirt and other unwanted materials, such as twigs and leaves, from falling in and possibly blocking the gutters. There are many types of gutter covers available, so choose one that works best for your home.
Extreme weather conditions can create cracks and corrode the gutters, whether made of steel, copper, or aluminum, preventing them from functioning effectively. Carry out repairs immediately to prevent further damage, clean the gutters regularly and use a water-resistant sealant to fix any leaks.
Your Garage
One can’t say they know how to repair a house if they often forget the garage, a critical section of your house. It can be used for storage, as a workshop where you can undertake your projects, a home gym, extra living space, or, more often, to house your car, protecting it from theft or vandalism. Whichever the case, you must ensure your doors are in top-notch condition.
The most common types of garage doors include sectional garage doors, roll-ups, slide-to-the-side, side-hinged, tilt-up retractable, and tilt-up canopy. Among these types, sectional garage doors rely heavily on high-tension springs to prevent them from closing down when only partially open.
If you’re having trouble opening or closing your garage door, you can do simple repairs instead of seeking a garage door repair service. It’s a great place to start learning how to repair a house. First, inspect the metal tracks inside the garage, tighten loose screws, ensure the tracks are correctly aligned, and clean the tracks with a strong cleaner to remove dirt and grease. If the garage door spring repairs don’t solve your problem, consider checking the door opener and panels to determine if you need to replace your entire garage door. If the problem is bigger and you can’t seem to get the door to work, call for professional help. Sometimes it’s more cost-effective to get help than to do it yourself.
Your Fireplace
A fireplace not only keeps your house warm and cozy but also adds to the overall aesthetic design of your home, giving it a nice antique look. It comes in handy on those cold winter nights when you want to relax with your family and friends. A safe, beautiful, and well-maintained fireplace is a necessity. Here are a few tips on how to repair a house, particularly the fireplace.
If you notice a tar-like substance called creosote building up on the inner walls of your chimney, clean it thoroughly and ensure the draft works efficiently to prevent combustion. Creosote forms when smoke from burnt wood cools and condenses. It can be highly flammable, so you need to take extra caution. Further, using poor-quality wood with a lot of moisture could prevent your fire from burning well or providing high heat and ultimately result in a lot of smoke.
Firewood processing involves cutting the wood into smaller pieces and allowing it to dry for at least a few months, instantly rewarding you with a properly lit fire. Be sure to check the fire bricks to ensure they aren’t cracked. With these few tricks, you can now learn more tips on how to repair a house without necessarily hiring professional services.
Your Kitchen
Ask any lady, and they’ll tell you that the kitchen is one of the most important rooms in a house. If you’re building your home, design your kitchen space according to your taste. If you live in a rented house, don’t worry; all is not lost. You can do a few things to transform your kitchen space as you repair the house.
Kitchen cabinets are essential in helping declutter your counter space and organize various items. Upgrade your countertop with a granite finish for that elegant look. A granite countertop is durable, heat-resistant, and does not easily scratch or chip, making it perfect for your kitchen.
Cabinets with broken latches and loose door hinges that make squeaking noises can drive one crazy. This could result from a lack of lubrication in the hinges or a buildup of dirt and dust. All you need to repair kitchen cabinets is a screwdriver, clamp, drill, and utility knife.
If you’ve got a lot of things to store but have limited kitchen space, consider adding a layer or two of kitchen cabinets to organize your kitchen better while retaining your space. To do so, get some plywood, backplates for knobs, nails, door bumpers, dry lubricant, wood cleaner, wood glue, and a saw, and build! You could also replace broken latches and worn-out drawer sliders.
Your Well
If you have a well, you can attest that repairs can be costly. One of the best ways to determine if you need to repair your well is by checking the water pressure and the level of consistency in the flow of water. If there’s no water flow in the well, contact a water delivery company to supply you with water as you work on the repairs.
The first step in any repair is conducting an assessment to establish the root cause of the problem and what exactly needs to be fixed. Before doing your well repairs, confirm that the well switch is on and that the double-pole circuit breaker is in place. If not, reset it.
Test the pressure switch to ensure water can be pumped into the tank. Replace the switch if it’s faulty. To do this, disconnect and replace it with the new one in the same position. Don’t forget to label the cables correctly to ensure your safety.
Once you’ve safely replaced the pressure switch, check the entire system, including the pump controller and the pressure tank’s air valve, to avert any chances of another problem recurring.
Your Yard
If you know how to repair a house and can do any home repairs highlighted above, maintaining the yard should be easy. The yard is probably one of the first things people see when they visit your home, so you can’t afford to have it poorly maintained. Before fixing your lawn, take a step back and investigate where the issue is.
Are there parts of the yard where grass struggles to grow or areas where thickets have grown to the extent that they’ve suppressed the grass around it? If so, worry not because there is a solution. Consider repairing that section if only a portion of the yard is damaged. However, if more than half of your lawn is damaged, remove everything and start from scratch.
Bush hogging may come in handy, particularly if you’ve large sections of overgrown vegetation that don’t have large rocks or tree stumps. Even if you don’t have a tractor, other bush hog machines can be attached to a riding mower.
As ironic as this may seem, clearing your lawn is the best way to kill the unwanted vegetation and pave the way for a fresh, lush green lawn that’s consistent all through. Begin by spraying the unwanted vegetation with a herbicide, mowing the lawn, keeping it as short as possible, frequently raking to remove excess organic material and enhance soil aeration, planting new grass, watering your lawn, using a lawn fertilizer where necessary, and lastly, mowing your new lawn.
You can ask your children to help you as you do the lighter tasks on the lawn, and who knows, they may just end up being gurus and teach others how to repair a house.
Your Driveway
Like your lawn, the driveway is one of the first things people see when passing your home. It’s, therefore, an essential part of your home’s overall appeal and should be handled with extra care. Whether it’s an asphalt, concrete, or gravel driveway, all are susceptible to cracks and stains, so you must ensure it’s in perfect shape. However, these driveways equally have distinct characteristics and repair mechanisms.
Asphalt driveways are heavily affected by traffic and chemical agents, which shorten their lifespan, creating cracks that gradually become large potholes if not repaired immediately. To repair such cracks, use an asphalt sealant or other patching products in sync with the driveway.
For concrete driveways, consider resurfacing to prevent them from chipping off. If there are stubborn stains, use a concrete cleaner and rinse it out with water. If you’ve got a long driveway, using gravel would probably be a better option. The downside is that portions of your driveway may be washed out after heavy runoff. However, if you have a good drainage system, you should be good to go.
Depending on the extent of damage, repairing driveways is an expensive undertaking that requires excavators to regrade the road. If you can’t fix the road yourself, contact a paving contractor to fix the problem. Do a background check on the roads the contractor has worked on before, or ask for local masonry to ensure you’re not shortchanged.
If you don’t know how to repair a house, consider talking to someone who has done some house repairs before or, better yet, seek professional advice. Remember, a quick fix may become more expensive if the repairs were done incorrectly, so don’t hesitate to ask for help.
There are, however, some home repairs that don’t require professional help, such as cleaning the compound and removing debris or watering the lawn during those torrid summer days. These are great activities to carry out with your family. You can even get everyone on a crash course on how to repair a house to save costs down the road. But you’ll need to balance carefully and identify the house repairs you can do with your family and those that require professional help, such as roof repair or replacement.
