Jennifer Sheahan: A beginner’s guide to basic home maintenance

Houses should come with a manual for all the little, and big, things that can go wrong. Consider this a beginner’s guide, by Jennifer Sheahan

Here are some home maintenance basics everyone should know - some of which I learned the hard way. File picture: iStock

BUYING a home is a wild process. You go view a house, potentially view it a second time, and then you hand over your entire life savings and hope it all works out. 

OK, you might get a survey done, you may speak to some neighbours, but honestly I’ve spent more time trying on certain items of clothing before committing to a purchase than I did viewing my house before I bought it. 

It’s bizarre that you can’t test-drive a home before owning it. The only thing more bizarre is that once you do own a home, there is no instruction manual. 

Being a homeowner is a big responsibility and things go wrong all the time. If you’re lucky you can call someone with a level of DIY knowledge to tell you what to do if things go wrong. This is inadequate — auctioneers should be required to hand over a manual for the house along with the keys. 

In the absence of this, here are some home-maintenance basics everyone should know — some of which I learned the hard way.

LEAVE IT TO THE PROFESSIONALS

No matter how good you are at DIY, I always recommend that plumbing, electrical, and structural issues should be left to the professionals. Therefore, if you find a leak or some dodgy wiring in your home, contact a plumber as quickly as possible.

Recommendations for good tradespeople are always best, and if none are forthcoming, you can find a registered tradesperson on localheroes.ie or yourpro.ie. 

It’s best not to wait until something goes wrong — gather contact information now for a reliable plumber, an electrician, a heating specialist, and a locksmith and keep it somewhere that you can access it quickly when you do need it.

MAINS WATER

A burst pipe, a broken tap, or any major leak can spell serious and expensive issues for your home. In the event that you find a leak in your home, the first thing you need to do is turn off the water at the mains to prevent any further damage. To do this, you need to locate your “inside stop valve” or “stopcock”. 

Again I recommend you do this now, and note where it is so that you can turn it off quickly in case the worst does happen. Your inside stop valve is most likely to be found either under your kitchen or utility sink, or potentially a bathroom sink; in your hot press; near your boiler (which may be in an out-house); in a utility press; or under the stairs. Note if you are in an apartment building, there will usually be one for the whole building that you share with your neighbours. 

It will look like a tap, a knob, or a lever on the water pipe and it may be red coloured. Turn it fully clockwise to stop water from coming into your home and stem the leak. Check out water.ie for more information and tutorials on how to find and turn off your inside stop valve, and what to do in the event of a leak.

ELECTRICITY FUSE BOX

Your electricity fuse box (or fuse board) allows you to switch off all electricity at the mains, or to switch off electricity in different areas of your home. Your fuse box is also a safety device — fuses prevent too much electrical current from causing damage, for example in case you overload a socket with too many electrical devices, or in the event of a power surge (unlikely these days!). 

Your fuse box will usually be in your hallway, under your stairs, or potentially in your garage. It is a white box with lines of switches behind the door. On modern fuse boxes there will be one large switch that will turn off all mains electricity. 

There will also be a series of smaller switches that should be labelled to turn off electricity in each area of your home (for example kitchen, living room, hallway, etc). Check out esbnetworks.ie for more information about your fusebox.

You should turn off electricity to replace or repair an electrical item such as a socket or a light switch. I am terrified of being electrocuted so I turn off the electricity even when changing a lightbulb! 

If you do have a leak and if there are any electrical outlets or appliances at risk of coming in contact with water, you should also turn off your electricity. If the electricity goes in your home, or an area of your home, first turn off and plug out any devices in your home which may have tripped the fuse. Then check your fuse box to see whether any switches are in the off position. Flip the switch back on to restore power. 

If the fuse trips frequently, call an electrician to get to the root of the problem.

ANNUAL BOILER SERVICE

If you have a boiler to heat your water — whether it be gas, oil, condensing, combi or even a heat pump — then you will need to have it serviced every year by a registered engineer. Failing to do so could invalidate your warranty, may impact your home insurance, and could result in expensive repairs down the line. 

Costs start at around €79 and you can either use your original installer (providing they are qualified) or you can find a registered engineer on yourpro.ie or bordgaisenergy.ie for gas boilers and heat pumps.