Secret Home Maintenance
Secret Home Maintenance
Secret Home Maintenance
There are home maintenance tasks out there that are total secrets! Did you know that? We all know that we need to clean out our gutters if we want them to function well and we need to change out our air filters for the same reason- proper function. But what about these secret tasks? Thankfully, the folks at realtor.com didn’t leave us in the dark. Here are some of the home maintenance chores we may have overlooked and why it’s beneficial to add them to the list of tasks!
Clean the Refrigerator Drip Pan
Did you know that refrigerators had drip pans? Yep, me neither! So, like me, you probably didn’t know that they exist to collect dripping moisture and therefore could have mold growing in them. What do we do about this? To clean it, follow the directions provided in the article:
“’Remove the kick panel at the bottom of your fridge, and trace the defrost drain line to the pan, which is where it empties out,’ says Rogers. Use a flashlight if you need to. ’Be sure to gently pull the pan out as it may be full of water, and dump any excess liquid in the sink before cleaning with an all-purpose cleaner,’ he says.”
Flush the Water Heater
What could that even mean? No, there isn’t a handle like you would find on the side of the commode. The president of Mr. Rooter Plumbing explains that to avoid reducing the life of your water heater and increasing its inefficiency the sediment must be flushed out. As it turns out, the sediment in your water heater, can cause corrosion. But how do you do this without a handle on the side? Here are the steps outlined in the article: “First, turn off the electricity or gas to the heater. Open a bathroom hot water tap and let the hot water run for a few minutes to lower the temperature of the water in the heater. Then shut off the cold water valve at the top of the tank, and put a bucket under the water heater drain valve. Open the valve and drain the water until it runs clear, with no sandy stuff. Be careful, because the water can come out hot! When it’s clear, put everything back the way it was and you’re done until next time.”
Reseal Your Grout
When your tile was installed the grout was covered with a sealant to protect it from wear and tear. You see, grout is a mixture of sand and cement, making it a porous mixture that can absorb moisture and bacteria—the grout sealer makes it waterproof. That all makes sense to me, but did you know that you are supposed to reseal your grout every year? I must have missed that day in Home-Ec because I sure didn’t. “To reseal grout, apply grout sealant, wipe off any excess that gets on tiles, wait 15 minutes, apply a second coat, then clean the tiles again. Let it cure for 24 to 48 hours. After it cures, test it: Water should bead on top of the grout instead of being absorbed.”, reads our sourced article.
There are several more tasks like testing for water leaks and washing the link screen in the dryer that the article mentions. To learn more about these check out the article here: https://www.realtor.com/advice/home-improvement/home-maintenance-tasks-you-may-not-realize-are-important/