Home maintenance for many is a troubling thought. Not all of us are handy with power tools and building materials. However, every homeowner wants to live in a comfortable space and maintain mobile home resale value for when it comes time to actually sell your home. Luckily, there are several budget-friendly ways to extend the life of your mobile home without going beyond your comfort level or financial means. Here’s our list of to-dos that don’t require any major expense.
5 Things To Do That Will Extend the Life of Your Mobile Home
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Replace your furnace and AC filter:
This one’s easy to forget. The seasons come and go, and your furnace blows air in the winter to keep you warm, right? Sure, but how well
Change the filter on your furnace and AC unit annually to extend the life of you mobile home. it does this is an entirely different story. It’s recommended that you change your filters annually. When a dirty filter stays in the furnace or AC, the unit is unable to operate as efficiently as it could. All the grubby mess that filter is meant to catch can start to flow into the system. This will reduce efficiency. It will degrade your home’s air quality. And it will shorten the life of your furnace and/or AC. So keep your filters clean and extend the life of your home. FYI, if you don’t know exactly where to go on the unit to pull out and replace the filter, reference your appliance guide or do a web search on the make and model for direction. Cost: If you’re paying more than $5 for an AC or furnace filter, you’re paying too much.
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Seal gaps with caulking:
Perhaps you’re wary of the time and expense it might take to replace your mobile home windows with a low-e mobile window or simply something newer? The low-cost answer for ensuring windows are air tight is the inexpensive little tube of clear silicone caulking. Use a caulking gun, cut the tube near the tip for medium to small bead and lay a straight and steady line of caulk to the outside cracks and edges of your windows. To ensure a good covered seal, you may need to “tool” the caulk bead with a moist-soapy finger or an ice cube. Cost:One-time purchase of a caulk gun for no more than $20, and about $6 for a tube of caulk.
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Take care of your appliances:
Be certain to put moderately sized loads in your washer and dryer. Anything too large or light can throw off the anticipated weight range of the appliance and cause gear and belt damage. They work and work and work for us. Do you recall how much effort it took to wash dishes and clean clothes before you had home appliances to do it for you? Well, those handy machines are doing the heavy lifting these days, and the could use a little help. The gears and belts on your washer and dryer are hard at work whenever they run, so don’t overload the machine and make the task all the more difficult. Likewise, don’t put in too small of a load, which can create imbalance and put strain on the machine. For your refrigerator and dishwasher, take time to wash the rubber seal with soapy water. When you clean the dust and grime, it tightens the seal and maintains temperature and moisture better. Cost: Nearly zero!
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Clean your gutters:
Mobile home roofing is about as costly and time consuming of an endeavor as you’ll find. So, make sure water and silt can come off the roof and far from your home. This is extremely beneficial if you want to extend the life of your home. You might need to buy a ladder.
Be certain rainwater and snow melt has easy access through the gutter system and away from the home. You might need to buy a hose. Pick a good spot to start and get that hose up in the rain gutters. Turn the hose on so there’s a good flow. With that, work your way around the home doing this. You might occasionally need to reach up and pull out a small branch or pine cone, but most everything else should flow down through the system and away from the home. Keep that hose moving around until it’s worked down into the out-spout and you see that the flow of water is going where it should – Away from the house with little or no debris left in the water stream. Cost: Well, if you need to buy a simple wooden ladder and a garden hose, the price tag could be $85. But these essential items will pay for themselves in no time.
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Rake away leaves and debris from perimeter of your home:
Moisture and water can wear out a home faster than nearly anything. And one of the best ways to keep moisture out of and away from the home is to simply rake tree leaves, high grass, weeds and pretty much anything else from the base perimeter of your home. Keeping the exterior ground clear and dry will cut down on routes into your home, not only for moisture, but for pests and fire too. Cost: You can pick up a perfectly good leaf rake for $10.
Looking for other cost-effective ways to improve your home? Take a glance at our top 5 budget-friendly solutions for remodeling a mobile home.
