Getting surprised by a major home maintenance and repair issue

can make you feel like a dummy!

Of course the ideal position to be in is to be fully aware of the current condition in all 6 critical areas of your home.

For some this seems to be an impossible feat. For others, staying in informed of the current condition has become just another “stroll in the park.”

How is this possible? By having a reliable and proven system for home maintenance management!

Here are some home maintenance tips that will keep you from like a dummy.

Start With A Home Maintenance Schedule

The best way to approach taking control of your home maintenance is to have a plan of action.

Start with a home maintenance schedule.  Getting into the habit of walking around your home for a quick maintenance check is actually easier than you think.

The hardest part to doing a home maintenance check is to take action. Nothing changes until YOU CHANGE IT.

So mark your calendar  now for a routine home maintenance check.

You’ll want to do this now! (Hint)

Follow A Home Maintenance Checklist

Having a home maintenance checklist of at least 17+ key aspects of your home is crucial to assuring that you do not get surprised by any major home maintenance and repairs.

This checklist should include everything from the inside, out; such as the 6 critical areas of your home:

• The exterior structure: roof, siding, doors, windows, and foundation
  

• Water Management: gutters and water shedding system
  

• The interior rooms: walls, ceiling, flooring, doors
  

• HVAC: heating, ventilation, and cooling

• Plumbing

• Electrical

When you have performed a “discovery walk through”, you will be fully  aware of the current condition of your home. Thus virtually eliminating the majority of  surprise home maintenance and repair.

Use a Home Maintenance Services Contractor

Let’s face it… sometimes we need the help of a trained home maintenance services professional.

Calling in for reinforcements is not a shameful thing. So swallow you pride and get the help you need!

Having a second opinion has proven to be a great confidence booster why starting out or just plain ole stumped in trying to solve a particular home repair and maintenance issue.

Keep a Home Maintenance Log

Keeping a home maintenance log or record will prove to be a very useful tool.

Use your home maintenance log to:

• Refer back to the “when, what, where, and who” of your home maintenance & repair.

• Demonstrate how you have managed your home maintenance and repairs.

• Prove a solid home maintenance management system is in place.

Following these useful home maintenance tips mentioned above will give you the confidence and control you desire in managing your home repair and maintenance.

But the best part of taking control of your home maintenance and repair is

knowing there is a successful home maintenance management system already available!

Introducing the

Home Owner’s

Maintenance Manual

With the Double Check Home Owner’s Maintenance Manual you can:

• Eliminate major surprises with home maintenance and repair issues

• Start and keep a scheduled home maintenance check to conveniently fit your lifestyle
  

• Follow an easy,  step by step home maintenance checklist covering 17+ key aspects of your home

• Determine when and who to contact when you need a home  maintenance services contractor

• How to effectively manage and control your home repair & maintenance by keeping a home maintenance log

• And MORE !

Are you ready to take control of your

home maintenance now?

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About The Author

Rick E Patterson is a licensed General Contractor and is favorably known as the “Go-To-Guy”.  He has gained notoriety as a Handyman Expertexcelling in his innate, creative abilities to quickly analyze and provide practical solutions to home maintenance issues. Rick produces a series of how-to videos, and writes blogs and articles for homeowners sharing his insights, expertise, and experiences with others. To see how using a home maintenance schedule can greatly benefit you go to

http://doublecheckmyhome.com

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Your Biggest Investment

For most homeowners, the biggest investment they have or will ever make is their home. Most homeowners spend the majority of their awakened hours working to acquire and keep this investment they call “home”. No matter if the house costs $100,000  or $1 million, it still is a biggest investment of your life.

Risk of Investment

Or should we say..Risk ON Investment. One thing for sure, no matter the price tag on the home, all homes are subject to the same problem… deterioration.

Every single home is subject to weathering, wear and tear, and decay.

Every day, month, season and year, your home is subject to the mercy of the environment:

• Extreme Temperatures

• Storms

• Pests
  

Not only the environment, but normal use can be taxing on the home. Even the basic law of thermal dynamics, stating that all thing break down and deteriorate, comes into play constantly.

The risk on this investment comes from not taking the necessary steps to protect it to keep its value.

So the upkeep and home maintenance is a must in order to protect your home, your biggest investment.

Home Appraisal Value

How well homeowners manage their home maintenance will reflect in the value of the property. Home appraisals reflect the value of the home at its present condition.

Show any slack, lack of attention, or act like a dummy and it will reflect in the property’s appraisal value.

The better a home is maintained, the better the property value.

Highest Return On Investment

In order to achieve the highest return on investment, your home must be under the best home maintenance plan possible.

Home maintenance management is the number one priority of home ownership. You must have and adhere to a well planned maintenance schedule.

• Following your home maintenance schedule will keep you informed of any home maintenance & repair issues as they arise.

• It is far better to catch any deterioration on the front end than on the back end of costly home repair!

• Maximize your management skills by utilizing a home maintenance checklist to keep a maintenance log of what and where any damage may be.

Investment Strategies

A well thought out home maintenance plan will incorporate three useful investment strategies:

• Scheduling a home maintenance check. Plan to take action now.

• Categorizing and prioritizing home maintenance & repair issues. Placing reported damage into categories of hierarchy will give attention to the most urgent repairs.

• Executing a plan of action for home improvement repair. Once the repairs are ranked, deciding who is involved in the repair process is the next step.

Even though your home is in good condition now doesn’t mean you should not bother with home maintenance management.

On the contrary,  in order to hold on to the value of your biggest investment, you must take into careful consideration of acquiring a well thought out home maintenance management program. Like the one provided in…

DOUBLE CHECK Home Maintenance Awareness gives you the control you want in protecting your biggest investment!

Discover how to keep informed and deal with your home maintenance & repair issues on the front end.

Effectively managing your home maintenance will help you avoid costly home repair.

Save Time and Money

Are You Ready to Get Started In

Protecting Your Biggest

Investment Now?

__________________________________________________________________

About The Author

Rick E Patterson is a licensed General Contractor and is favorably known as the “Go-To-Guy”.  He has gained notoriety as a Handyman Expert excelling in his innate, creative abilities to quickly analyze and provide practical solutions to home maintenance issues. Rick produces a series of how-to videos, and writes blogs and articles for homeowners sharing his insights, expertise, and experiences with others. Go see how you can protect your home in other ways at http://doublecheckmyhome.com

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The Ever Expanding Information on Home Maintenance

With the surplus of information on home maintenance found on the internet, homeowners today often find themselves frustrated and overwhelmed with too much information. In this case, too much is not helpful.

Gathering reliable and proven information on home maintenance seems to even more difficult than ever before. Homeowners have to pick and choose, or glean over the vast information to get exactly what they want.

Having a surplus of all this information may be bad news after all.

Reducing Your Frustration By Considering Your Choices

No matter how much information is out there, the good news is there are still only two basic choices when it comes to managing your home maintenance and repair , either:

• You do it, or….

• Someone else does it for you!

For some homeowners, this is again is not good news.

With there only being two choice in managing home maintenance, there still remains a number of questions as to why, how, when, where, what and who!  Answering these questions correctly will ensure sound decision making.

However, the process of making sound decisions in managing your home maintenance can also be very frustrating if not carefully considering the following criteria:

• Why bother with home maintenance management
  

• How to effectively manage home maintenance

• When to schedule your home maintenance

• Where to look for home maintenance issues

• What to do with discovered  home maintenance repair
  

• Who does the home maintenance & repair

Why Bother With Home Maintenance Management

For most home owners, the biggest investment they have or will ever make is their home. No matter if the house costs $100,000  or $1 million, it still is a big investment.

One thing for sure, no matter the price tag on the home, all homes are subject to the same problem… deterioration. Every single home is subject to weathering, wear and tear, and decay.

How well homeowners manages their home maintenance will reflect in the value of the property. Appraisals reflect the value of the home at its present condition. Show any slack or lack of attention, and it will reflect in the property’s appraisal value.

The better a home is maintained, the better the property value.

How to Effectively Manage Home Maintenance

There is a modern saying, “Successful systems make ordinary people extraordinary.” Embracing a successful home maintenance system is the most important aspect of effectively managing home maintenance.

This system should have an agenda or a plan of action. Taking action makes all the difference in avoiding costly home repair!

The first item on any homeowner’s plan of action is to become familiar with the 6 critical areas of their home. These areas include:

• Electrical system
• Plumbing system
• Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
• Internal Structural Components
• External Structural Components
• Water Management

Routinely spending just a few minutes in becoming familiar with these critical areas will assist you in quickly identifying any abnormalities.

When to Schedule Your Home Maintenance

The best time to schedule a home maintenance check is NOW! Take action, plan your next home maintenance check now while it is still on your mind.

Too many home repairs have been needlessly made by well intending homeowners. Getting in the habit of scheduling your next home maintenance check can help you avoid costly home repair.

According to the current condition of your home, most home maintenance schedules are typically performed every 6 to 12 months.

If the current condition is dire, it is advisable to monitor specific areas with more frequency as deemed necessary.

Where to Look For Home Maintenance Issues

As mentioned earlier, becoming familiar with the 6 critical areas of your home will facilitate a new sense of awareness. Being even more aware of any abnormalities or problems comes with knowledge and experience.

Knowing what to look for during your home maintenance check will also give you confidence when identifying any discovery of home repair. What better way to look for than by using a home maintenance checklist!

A home maintenance checklist will guide you through the home maintenance check step by step to ensure you take notice of all critical areas. Consider the home maintenance checklist to be the road map to get you smoothly from one area to the next, from start to finish.

Following a successful home maintenance plan will ensure that no home maintenance issues go unnoticed. You should systematically and routinely check from one area to the next.

Using a specific method or plan of movement is the best way to check for needed home repair and maintenance. Some use a room to room method while other homeowners will check one critical area at a time.

What to Do With Discovered  Home Maintenance Repair

Knowing what to do with the discovered home maintenance repair(s) is essential to the whole process of the home maintenance check. Effective home maintenance management can be accomplished by understanding that all home maintenance & repair issues can be given priority by placing them into 3 categories:

• Safety Hazard, these repairs must be handled immediately!

• Schedule, plan date for home repair & maintenance.
  

• Monitor, keep a close watch on troubled area. 
  

Whatever category you place the home maintenance & repair in, you’ll want to most importantly keep records in your home maintenance log.  A home maintenance log will keep you fully informed of the past and present condition of your home. This collection of records can be reviewed annually or as deemed necessary.

Who Does the Home Maintenance & Repair

With any newly discovered home maintenance & repair issues identified, categorized, and marked for monitoring, you are set to make the final choice.

The choice to do the repair themselves as a diy home maintenance project, or have a home maintenance services provider step in do the home repair for them.

To some this step is very liberating and empowering, exercising the freedom of choice.

Others may not have that freedom due to several limitations such as lack of funds, in which case it is a diy home maintenance project!

However, the following criteria may merit a call for home maintenance service provider:

• Lack of tools
• Lack of talent
• Lack of time
• Lack of motivation

Whatever the case, the final decision or choice always lies with the homeowner.

This is the purpose of Double Check Home Maintenance Awareness

Double Check Home Maintenance Awareness is designed to empower homeowners to take control and manage their home maintenance through awareness education, experience, and service.

Awareness education equips the homeowner with insight and knowledge of when and where to look for current home maintenance issues. Homeowners experience more control now in making their home maintenance decisions.

With a newly acquired management skill set, the homeowner’s choices are quickly broadened involving:

• How to effectively manage home maintenance

• When to schedule your home maintenance

• Where to look for home maintenance issues

• What to do with discovered  home maintenance repair
  

• Who does the home maintenance & repair

Empowered homeowners always having the final word as to who participates in the maintenance process can make the choice of taking on a DIY project themselves, or opting to contact a local certified Double Check Home Maintenance Services Provider.

Take a look at the choices you have with

Make Double Check Home Maintenance Awareness

Your Maintenance Home !

__________________________________________________________

About The Author

Rick E Patterson is a licensed General Contractor and is favorably known as the “Go-To-Guy”.  He has gained notoriety as a Handyman Expert excelling in his innate, creative abilities to quickly analyze and provide practical solutions to home maintenance issues. Rick produces a series of how-to videos, and writes blogs and articles for homeowners sharing his insights, expertise, and experiences with others. To learn the other beneficial aspects of using a home maintenance checklist, go to

http://doublecheckmyhome.com

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011

Click on pen to

As an introductory illustration as to how we subconsciously choose not to see things, I am compelled to tell one of my favorite stories.

This story is a personal event that took place a few years back.

I call it

“The Red T-Shirt Story”

A friend and I went to a Braves baseball game in the then brand new Turner Field located in Atlanta Georgia. Now even if you’re not into baseball, Tuner Field is still an amazing place to spend a few hours loaded with food, fun, and entertainment.

That particular game was kind of slow and not much was happening on the field. Who cared, the fans made up for the onset of boredom in the 5th inning.

A section of fans started “the wave”… you know, where everyone sequentially stands up quickly with arms raised overhead and sits back down thus creating a wave appearance. Too fun. This wave went all around the stadium successfully a  few times.

My friend, sitting next to me, pointed out a guy in the upper section close to us and said to look at him. I turned to look over my shoulder to see but did not pinpoint the person she was pointing to. I asked for more description of the person so I could focus on what was going on that caught her attention.

My friend said, “Look at the man up there in the red t-shirt!”

I turned again to search for the new descriptive detail, but this time I noticed there were scores of fans in that section with red t-shirts on.

And as I turned my head to say something, I then saw that there were suddenly thousands of fans wearing red t-shirts!

Just then my mind was opened to something that I had been looking at for sometime and yet never really consciously noticed.

At that’s my point here.

_____________________________________

Let me ask you a pointed question then.

Are you “blindly looking” at the home maintenance issues around your house?

Sure I know you spend a great amount of time there, but are you totally aware of those unnoticed issues that have gradually gotten worse by the day.

I am talking about home repair issues that normally would be caught during a routine home maintenance schedule with a thorough home maintenance checklist…

You see, it is the same principle at your home as it was for me at the Braves game.

My eyes were open, but my mind was asleep!

Here’s other questions.

Is your mind asleep to even those blatant costly home repairs that your eyes see each and every day?

Have you noticed how bad things are getting?

Without a home maintenance schedule and the use of a home maintenance checklist, costly home repair issues will continue to worsen.

And they continue to go unnoticed until someone points them out. Then perhaps only then wielding your focus to pinpoint what someone else points out.

Well, please don’t feel like I am pointing you out of the crowd here. I’m not. It’s just amazing how we all share some very common experiences.

And this is what this blog is all about… I invite you to explore what common experiences you share with other homeowners who come to Double Check also looking for answers.

Double Check Home Maintenance Awareness

• Gives homeowners serious solutions and insights into how to effectively manage their home maintenance & repair issues using our home maintenance checklist.

• Empowers them take control of the current condition of their home through an effective awareness education process.

• Consciously guides the homeowner through a step by step method of how to catch home maintenance issues early and avoid costly home repairs.

• Additionally gives homeowners the option of learning how to take on the home repair as a DIY project, or call upon a home maintenance services provider.

Final questions to consider for now…

Are there Red T-shirts at your home?

Are your eyes open to your home’s current condition?

Is your mind awake to your home maintenance and repair ?

If you have not done so before, I encourage to take of the blindfold, open your eyes, and take another look at some serious solutions to your home’s current condition with our home maintenance schedule and home maintenance checklist.

Only this time, let Double Check Home Maintenance Awareness point out the “Red T-shirts“.

Are you ready to take a look at serious solutions?

_____________________________________________________

About The Author

Rick E Patterson is a licensed General Contractor and is favorably known as the “Go-To-Guy”.  He has gained notoriety as a Handyman Expert excelling in his innate, creative abilities to quickly analyze and provide practical solutions to home maintenance issues. Rick produces a series of how-to videos, and writes blogs and articles for homeowners sharing his insights, expertise, and experiences with others. Go see for yourself at http://doublecheckmyhome.com

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010

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