Daylight Savings Home Checklist

November 6, 2011

In my family, we use the Daylight Saving Time changes as a reminder to perform inspections around our home.  This bi-annual event gives us a chance to perform tasks to make sure that our homeowner maintenance is staying up to date.

Here are tasks that we do during this time:

1. Replace the batteries in all of your smoke detectors, then test each to make sure that they are working properly.
2. Add a couple of drops of light weight oil to all of your key locks and the cylinder.  Turn the cylinder so that the throat of the lock comes out and then turn it back and forth a couple of times.
3. Check your condensation drain to your heating and cooling system (HVAC).  Make sure that it is free and clear of debris and that it is above the mulch level. If you have a pan under your unit inside the house, pour a cup of Clorox into the pan to kill off any mold that might be growing.
4. Since we don’t open our windows much living here in Florida, it’s a also a good time to open and close them to make sure that nothing is obstructing the tracks in the event that you need to get out of them.
5. Check your dryer vent and make sure that it is clean and that there is no lint caught up in it. One handy tip is to cover the hose end with panty hose. This will block any large debris that has the potential to get stuck.

Performing these five quick homeowner maintenance tasks with each time change will help to keep your house in order and keep repairs at a minimum.

Mike Keesee is a Certified Residential Designer, Florida Building Contractor and Home Inspector.  His companies, Keesee and Associates, Inc and FDS Engineering, provides residential design services throughout the US and abroad. To learn more about the companies go to www.gokeesee.com and www.fdseng.com .