Whether it’s a faulty pipe, a toilet that won’t flush or an air conditioning unit that isn’t cooling like it used to, there’s a lot that can go wrong in and around the home. And when things aren’t working as they’re supposed to, it’s a homeowner’s responsibility to schedule repair jobs.
While there are things you can repair all on your own, most of the time you will simply need professional assistance. This means finding local plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and other domestic repair service providers who will be able to complete all your repair jobs to an exceptional standard.
But just because you can expect a certain level of domestic dysfunctions over the course of any given fiscal year, it doesn’t mean that you should just grin and bear the ever-growing costs alongside your property’s depreciation rate. In fact, with a few proactive home maintenance methods, you can reduce your risks of accruing costly home repairs over the year.
If you’re looking for some practical ways to save on your home repairs this coming financial year, we’ve got you covered. Here are five things you can do to cut down on the costs of keeping your house in tip-top shape.
1. Don’t wait for the problem to grow
This is probably the most important point. Don’t wait around thinking you can just live with a broken fixture or anything else that obviously calls for a repair job. As soon as you notice that something’s wrong, get it fixed immediately. Believe us, you can save a lot of money by simply staying proactive about your home maintenance to-do list every year.
Ignoring issues in your home or using stopgap solutions only lead to bigger problems down the line, which will end up costing you more time and money to fix. Things like a minor leak in a bathroom faucet or a small crack in the window need to be addressed as soon as possible before they grow into more significant issues (i.e. water damage or mold growth).
2. Know which repairs you can do on your own
Of course, you can save a lot of money by fixing some things up yourself rather than calling a professional repairman. But if you are opting to go the DIY route, you’ll need to know what repair jobs could feasibly be seen to on your own. The last thing you want to do is go messing around with livewires. Contrastingly, changing a lightbulb could be done easily enough on a weekend afternoon without having to call your local electrician.
If you’re not quite sure which tasks you can do yourself, consider the risk factors associated with completing any given home repair job. For instance, if you’ve found the soil in your backyard to be waterlogged, it may be evidence of a broken pipe. Is it worth digging through wet, heavy soil to find that pipe and potentially risk causing even more damage? The answer here is a straight ‘no’.
So if a repair job can become even more expensive (or even life threatening) if it’s completed by untrained hands, just call the professionals.
3. Find a balance between cost and quality
Often, things will go wrong in your house that are beyond your ability to fix. In these cases, you’ll need to seek professional assistance. But not all repairmen offer the same pricing models or even the same level of quality. So when you call the big dogs, you’ll need to do your due diligence to make sure you don’t get bit.
This isn’t to say go with the cheapest option available to you. After all, skimping on home repair services often leads to bigger problems down the road. You end up having to pay more in the future for damages that could have been avoided.
On the other hand, however, you also don’t want to end up overspending for a service that goes far beyond what the problem actually is. So the key here is to strike a balance between cost and quality. Be sure to read up on customer reviews when searching for a domestic repair service provider and to ask for quotes or price estimates on any work. That way, you can ascertain what level of quality (and what service fees) you should be able to expect from your repair callout.
4. Invest in a comprehensive home insurance policy
A good home insurance policy is one of the most important ways of saving money on home repairs. This is because insurance, as its name suggests, can act as a safety net against unforeseen events. It allows you to get some or all of the costs of your home repairs back, if your home is damaged due to an insured event.
Whether or not you can get any money back for a particular repair job, and how much you can get, are dependent on several factors. Among these are the terms of your insurance agreement, the sort of damage you need repaired, and the circumstances under which the damage happened.
When there’s nothing wrong, insurance might feel like a needless response, but trust us, it’s not. Eventually, something will break, and you’ll want to be covered when it does.
5. Look for sales on fixtures and appliances
If there’s something that needs replacing, like a broken pipe or a light, you can save lots of money by shopping around for sales. Hardware stores and groceries will often run promotions on certain items, and chances are you’ll find a few of these if you look hard enough.
Waiting a few days for a sale or promotion can also work to your benefit. Just as long as you don’t wait too long. This applies to replacing home appliances and furnishings as well as home fixtures, or built-in amenities.
Speaking of furnishings, when looking to replace broken furniture, another option is to go thrifting. You’ll often find items in usable quality at a fraction of the price brand new ones would cost.
~
With these money-saving tips up your sleeve, you should be able to save plenty on your home repairs over this coming financial year whilst perhaps even growing the value of your home along the way!
And remember – even if your house is currently in top shape, you’ll still want to keep these tips in mind in case anything does break. If there are repairs that should be made and that you’ve been putting off, take this article as your sign to get them done. Remember that fixing any damages as soon as they happen is always cheaper than waiting.
//Branded Content
