Buying a used home may be cheaper, but owning a property comes with its share of extra bills, mainly unexpected home repairs. The average household spent close to £3,000 on repairs in 2019 alone. Here are seven essential maintenance and repairs you need to get done when buying a used house.
Electricals and Outlets
Although home repairs regarding electricals are growing, it can be dangerous. Electrical issues and wiring is best left to the professionals. Plus, it’s wise to get an electrical installation condition report (EICR) besides the repair, giving you official documents provided by engineers and electricians, making it easier to track issues like damaged electrical wiring that may compromise safety.
Addressing electrical issues often requires a specific skill set to ensure utmost safety. The risk of a mistake and potentially electrocuting yourself or starting a fire, makes it worth the extra cost of hiring a certified electrician. Depending on the home’s type of electrical issues, your bill can quickly amount to substantial amount of money.
Water Line
If the house is connected to a public water system, tree roots and regular wear and tear may result in breaks in your water line or backups, leaving you with one messy and unsanitary issue. Replacing a water line running from the streets into your house can cost between £500 to £1000. However, this number doesn’t often include the expenses of dealing with the damage to your home, which usually results when a water line fails.
Foundation
Foundation damage can affect homes when the weather swells the water table and contracts with drought, where these shifts place the foundation at risk. The excess moisture makes the wood support beams the perfect target for termites. Since the foundation is a home’s footprint, repairs can be complex and costly. The cost for repairing a home’s foundation is around £7,500 to £9,500.
The price for repairing the foundation depends on the damage at hand. For example, a cracked foundation or anything above that can compromise the structure of your house are usually more expensive. It’s not a repair you can put off.
Roof
When there’s an issue with the used home you bought, you must quickly repair it before long-term damage happens to one of the most crucial parts of your home, the roof. The signs of a damaged roof include ceiling stains, missing shingles, and leaks. If you’re suspecting there’s something wrong with your roof, call an expert right away and prepare thousands for repairs.
Replacing roofing costs will depend on the size and materials used for it. For instance, the average cost of a new roof in the UK ranges from £4,000 to £5,000. Although expensive, these tend to last between 15 and 30 years, meaning it’s not a repair you’ll need to deal with too often.
Heating and Cooling System
Whether you’re running your heating and cooling unit on gas, oil, or electricity, they’re relatively a worthwhile investment and one that’ll likely last for more than ten years. In the middle of a scorching summer or freezing wintertime, this one home repair is one that you’ll need to make sure is working to ensure comfort.
Although the financial savings of having a modern energy-efficient air conditioning or heating unit is relatively high, having the peace of mind that you may control your family’s environment in adverse conditions is also something you must consider.
Mold Removal
Mold usually develops inside used homes due to moisture, leading to several health issues for any individual. However, it’s most potent to young children. That’s why if you’ve discovered mold in your home, you’ll need to have it removed quickly. You can remove minor mold growth in your home using a simple soapy water and bleach combination. However, if it’s beyond repair, it’s best to replace the affected area. But overall, the spores’ pervasiveness in the environment can be controlled with proper maintenance.
Pipes
Fixing run-down pipes is the type of home repair usually needed right after a home inspection on a used house. That’s because dated construction materials with known issues in their manufacturing and overall failure caused by time passing will come into play on the decision to whether you’ll need to consider dealing with pipe problems in the financial aspect of homeownership—or not.
Maintenance is a massive expense when owning a property, especially a used one. You’ll inevitably have to face a repair over time. And the seven mentioned are the most crucial you need to address first to avoid additional costs later on.
