Helpful hints to protect your investment - tips on basic home maintenance and inspection for destructive insects, trees, and plants, and inspecting the roof, heating, and electrical systems

After recovering from the initial exhilaration of moving into their own house, first-time homeowners can be overwhelmed suddenly by the enormous responsibility facing them -- care and maintenance of the largest investment of their lives. Yet, the responsibility of taking care of your own home shouldn't put any new homeowner into shock, maintains Kenneth Austin, chairman of HouseMaster, a national home inspection company. Some common sense, routine checks, and basic how-to skills can go a long way in helping to keep a house in tip-top shape. He offers the following guidelines:

Start outside the house. If, like most Americans, you move into your home in spring or summer, you can begin a routine maintenance check on the outside right away to discover any decay under way before damage becomes significant. The most vulnerable areas are wooden surfaces subject to frequent or constant moisture exposure or from which moisture does not drain quickly. These may include lower reaches of wood siding in contact with soil, improperly designed window and door ledges, porches and patios on which rain or snow accumulates, or siding exposed to rain gutter overflows or leaks.

A telltale sign of chronic moisture invasion in areas not obviously affected by rain or snow is blistering paint. Probe suspected areas with your screwdriver. If the wood is spongy or crumbly, you have hit a trouble spot. In addition to repairing, replacing, or repainting the spot, make sure you correct the condition that caused the deterioration in the first place.

Destructive insects. Take a periodic look around the outside of the foundation, above the soil, for termite tunnels. These are lines of mud -- about the thickness of a pen -- leading from the soil to wooden portions of the structure. In foundations of unfilled cinder or concrete block, termites often manage to use the hollow interiors as built-in tunnels, eliminating the most visible sign of their presence, so periodic probing of basement beams and other low-lying lumber in homes with such foundations is important.

Another insect to be on the lookout for is the carpenter ant, which is just as destructive as well as bolder and greedier. They eat whatever you eat and burrow into woodwork to set up their colonies. Damp wood is their ideal nesting area, making it easier to construct and expand the labyrinth of tunnels they need for their eggs and larvae.

If either insect is detected, hire a professional exterminator. The nest must be destroyed to rid you of the problem.

Trees and plants. Make sure bushes don't provide an insect bridge to the house or serve as an abrasive house scraper. Tree branches shouldn't abrade roof shingles or siding, scrape screens, or lean against the house itself. Remember that trees, welcome for roof-preserving and temperature-moderating shade in hot weather, can be bent closer, broken, or even uprooted by winds or by ice and snow in some areas.

An annual roof inspection is a must for all homeowners, beginning with periodic checks in the attic for telltale stains that typically indicate leaks around the chimney flashing or plumbing vents. Catching these leaks early on will keep seepage to a minimum and save a great deal of money in the long run.

Check shingles and every spot where the roof is penetrated by a chimney, vent, dormer, skylight, or any other protrusion. Each joint should be protected by a metal flashing, usually aluminum or copper to avoid corrosion, and the edges of the flashing should be sealed to the roof and intersecting surfaces with roof cement. Smear fresh roofing compound generously on any cracks that look suspicious.

Heating and electrical systems intimidate new homeowners most, and when anything goes wrong they're quick to call in professionals. In many instances, that's sound judgment, but homeowners should know the basics about both these systems and the routine maintenance procedures they can follow for each. All registers and duct openings should be cleaned. if you have a humidifier, make sure the water compartment is cleaned annually and mineral deposits removed. Check the absorbent media pads, which often dry out and deteriorate during hot summer months.

Turn on your air conditioning units, either central or window. If the air flow is diminished, a dirty air filter is the most likely culprit. To top off your inspection, check the insulation in your attic. Insulation keeps the heat in the home where it belongs, providing it has been installed properly.

A basic knowledge of the electrical system is necessary so you know how to isolate problems when and if they occur. For instance, do you know where the main cable carrying power enters your home? Is it a cable that "drops" power from the utility transmission line on a pole or an underground cable that brings electricity in?

Learn how much power you can draw on safely without blowing a fuse or citifying off the circuit breaker. Inspect electrical wiring and make sure it is insulated. Never use frayed wiring for any purpose.

COPYRIGHT 1997 Society for the Advancement of Education
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group