Maintenance at home is a very essential aspect of basic living. You should also be aware of the preventative measures of reducing home maintenance which will help in averting any fore coming disasters on your way. The following are some tips:

• Check whether your toilet tank is not leaking; you can test this by adding food color to the tank and check the pot after a while, if the water is colored than probably your tank is leaking.

• You should make sure whether the hose pipes of your washing machine are not cracked or defective. Also ensure that the drainage pipe is properly fixed to the drain outlet.

• Your refrigerator has a plastic line called the capillary line. This might be frizzled after some period of time leading to leaks. You need to check them and change periodically.

• To have proper drainage of water, do not let solid or fats go through drains which might later clog the pipes.

These were some basic tips to reduce home maintenance.

Wooden flooring looks the classiest. But if you have wooden flooring in your home, make sure to take proper care of it to retain the beauty for years. Here are some useful tips. Firstly, sweep your floor regularly with a soft broom.

Then, mop your wooden floor with damp rag but never use excessive water over it. Again, go for a vacuum every week with its soft brush attaching at least for the 1st two stages. A wax or wood polish occasionally would bring back its lost luster.

Besides, never place any thing heavy on the wooden floor or walk on it with your high heel stilettos as these might lead to scratches over the surface. In case of heavy traffic areas, cover the surface with mat or area rugs for further protection. Make sure to go for a re-varnish or re-sand after 2-3 years to enhance its durability.

A lot of people think that maintaining their homes during winters is a very big problem. This is however not right. If you follow some simple tips, maintaining your home and preparing it for the winters will not be that difficult at all. The very first thing that you should do when the winters are setting in is adding an extra layer in insulation to the attic. Minimum insulation is R-30. However, if your house is relatively new it conforms to the minimum requirement in all probability.

Installing storm doors and windows in case you have them, is a good idea. The older windows are usually not designed for modern insulation so purchasing the storm windows is advisable. If your furnace is malfunctioning make sure that you fix your heating system before the winter starts. You can also use alternate heating sources like winterizing your house with extra insulation and wooden stoves.

If you are doing your home exterior, you need to keep some points in mind. You need to paint your walls well. Painting the walls is an easy and cheap way to change the exterior look of your home. If you have a big house, use a sedate paint colour.

You home needs to have a sturdy siding. You can upgrade your siding to a modern composite siding. The composite siding is designed in a way that it will last for at least 50 years. An important part of home exterior is a strong and sound roof. Choose a roof colour depending on the colour of your walls.

An added advantage is a well maintained landscape, provided you have the space. You can have well shaped trees and shrubs. You can also have a decent walkway if there is space. Most old houses have walk ways. You can use slate tiles to do up the walkway.