PALO ALTO — A lot of homeowners are unaware that their houses, whether new or old, won’t last forever. They don’t seem to realize that nearly every component of the home (and there are thousands) has a finite shelf life. Eventually, these components will wear out, get old and fail, while in other cases they may just fall out of fashion.
Small items that fail aren’t usually a big deal…if you can catch them early and attend to them right away. Big components that fail are another matter. Plumbing, water heaters, roofing, gutters, windows, doors, siding, and foundations that wear out and fail can cost thousands of dollars to repair or replace.
I recommend learning the ages and expected lifespans of the various key parts of your home. From there, you can project when major expenses are likely to occur and plan accordingly. If you need help with this, a home maintenance professional can be a great resource.

Keeping Track of Home Maintenance Needs

Discover essential tips for tracking home maintenance needs, ensuring your house stays in top shape year-round with a little organization and foresight.

Keeping Track of Home Maintenance Needs by Steve Spratt

By Steve Spratt of HPS Palo Alto, Inc.

How to Keep Your Washing Machine Mildew-Free

How to Prevent Efflorescence on Masonry Surfaces

The Importance of Gutter Maintenance

Video: Rain Gutter Maintenance

when it comes to preventing water damage
in your home one crucial aspect is
maintaining your rain gutters today
we're in los altos with diamonds
certified expert contributors seed
sprout of HPS Palo Alto to learn more so
there's two or three places in every
home that are critical to maintain to
prevent water damage and this is one of
them the rain gutter and downspout
system in the home is critical to that
more damage is caused by rain gutters
and downspouts that aren't functioning
properly then all the natural disasters
in the United States combined that's
huge it's a huge number if you think
about it what happens is if the water
isn't controlled coming off the roof
then it it can either splash back on the
house damage the doors windows siding it
also gets down too close to the
foundation and soften the foundation and
you get settlement and cracking in the
foundation so real critical to get that
water controlled coming off the roof and
channel it away from the structure where
it can't do any damage this particular
gutter and downspout system real nice
because it's zinc last a long time and
it's easily demountable so that if it
does get clogged up you can take it
apart there's a little screw mechanism
here and a hinge so that at the joints
where it connects can easily be taken
apart without any tools it also has this
neat little trapdoor filter feature here
not only filters the water before it
gets into the drain but it makes it
really easy to clean any debris out now
another thing if you don't have an
easily maintainable system like this is
you just have to keep the trough of the
gutter cleaned so that material doesn't
get down into the downspout and clean it
and clog it up one of the things that
you can do is put a gutter protection
system in
along the roof line in the gutter and
basically those things keep the material
from getting down into the trough of the
gutter but allow the water to pass
through that's real important because if
any link part of this link gets clogged
up then it will cause an overflow and
you right back to square one to learn
more from local top-rated companies
visit our diamond certified expert
reports at experts Diamond Certified org

Video: Tips for a Mold-Free Washing Machine


if you own a front loing washing machine
there are a few preventative steps that
you can take to prevent mold today we're
in Los Altos with diamond certified
expert contributor Steve Sprat of HPS
Palo Alto to learn more hey aren't these
U front loader washing machines and
dryers great I like them because they
they look cool and also uh they the
clothes that come out out of them after
they've spun uh are nearly dry so it
takes less time to to dry them but uh
there's one thing that you should be
real aware of and if your clothes are
beginning to smell u a little musty
after being uh Washed by these you might
want to know about uh the moisture
problems that these have um because the
way they're designed and uh uh built
they hold more moisture than the top
loader washing machines um the front uh
seal here is obviously airtight to keep
the water from coming out uh but the way
it's designed also has a number of folds
that actually hold moisture in or make
it very difficult to dry out um compared
to the top loaders uh also the uh the
tub is different configuration than a
top loading tub and it is more difficult
to get all the water out of of these
also as a result of that moisture held
in if you keep the door closed uh these
will develop mold uh and uh once it
starts it's very difficult to uh get out
so um uh there are a couple of areas on
the inside here that need to be cleaned
on a regular basis and uh it does help
to run a uh a mold I think it's called a
mildew side uh tablet through it every
so often um other wise a great
machine to learn more from local top
rated companies visit our Diamond
certified expert reports at experts.
Diamond certified. org

Steve Spratt: A Passion for Preservation

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