Year round home maintenance

Homeowners know the satisfying, deep pleasure of a house that's in good order—a house where appliances are working, the paint is not chipped, and that dust under the refrigerator is gone (at least temporarily). A regular home maintenance program will keep your house fresh and clean, help prevent expensive repairs and ensure your house is as safe as possible, For a newbie, it can be a steep learning curve figuring out when to clean which filter, how often you're supposed to clean out a chimney and what, exactly, a sump pump is. Sticking to a year-round home maintenance schedule will break the tasks up and will keep you on track with repairs and upkeep. Since most of the big jobs have to be tackled one, two or four times a year, grouping task by season is a good way to create a maintenance routine. With every season change Change or clean filters on the air conditioner or heater unit. Vacuum or dust indoor vents. Clean and freshen the kitchen garbage disposal using ice cubes or small bits of lemon peel. Running a few small ice cubes through the disposal will knock debris from blades and a few small pieces of citrus peel will keep it smelling fresh. For maximum results, make ice cubes with pure lemon juice and run them though the machine. Test fire extinguishers to check their pressure and inspect to make sure they're accessible and not broken or missing parts. Wipe down the washing machine and clean the interior by running an empty load with a cup of bleach, a cup of white vinegar OR laundry detergent. Use the machine's hottest setting. Test all ground-fault circuit interrupters.