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West Auckland House Painter – Decorating and Other Tips To Maintain Your Property
For most people, a house is their single biggest purchase. Coming towards the Christmas and summer holidays, many homeowners look outside and think about some of those maintenance jobs they ought to get onto. It makes sense to look after your property as well as you can to keep its value, and make sure your home is liveable. For those who people who invest in properties, similar arguments apply – keep up the value of your investment, but by making it a good home to live in, you can attract better tenants and charge a higher rent.
Below are some simple, but useful tips for maintaining your property from my years as a West Auckland house painter, whether your home or an investment.
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Check The roof
If your roof is weak in some way, your whole house is at risk. Loose tiles or sheets can get blown off. Rotting tiles can quickly develop into bigger problems. Leaks can let in water, and with the heavy tropical downpours we get these days, that can be a lot of water. And water always flows downwards, into your house.
The first job ought to be to check your roof for soundness and weather-tightness.
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Clean Up Your Property
Your house will look better and the exterior paint will last longer if you take care of it. The quickest and easiest way to do this is a power wash. This can clean off the winter dirt which looks unsightly but remember to clean your decks and garage doors too.
Mould and moss which can cause some health issues so having a power-wash will also clean those away making your home safer for your family or tenants.
It’s also a good idea to have your drive cleaned at the same time. Moss can build-up which can become slippery, besides not looking smart.
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Check Your Deck
For many home-owners, the deck is the focal point of their summer. A quick evening barby, Christmas lunch, parties with friends. A deck can also become a liability in numerous ways.
Firstly, dirt can collect in the grooves of the decking floor. This becomes slippery, especially after a rain shower. Give your deck a jet-wash at the start of summer before someone has a fall.
As a deck is exposed all year round, it can get a lot of sun and rain which can damage the decking material. Excess rain can cause rot in some boards making them unsafe, so check the boards and replace any that are showing signs of rotting.
The high sun we get in New Zealand can cause the protective coatings to deteriorate. It is recommended that if your deck is stained, then re-do it every 3 – 5 years. If it is painted, 6 – 8 years, depending on the wear.
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Protect Your Property
A fence not only defines the boundary of your property but it also acts as a deterrent to unwanted “invaders”. These might be dogs, children or house-breakers. Whatever, you need to keep your fence in good condition.
Again, repainting your fence every few years will help protect it from the elements and extend the useful life of your boundary fence.
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Painting For Protection
Again, due to the harsh sun in NZ, paint can bubble and peel quite quickly. Not only does it look unsightly, but if left untreated, it can lead to deterioration of the wall, door or window frame itself.
If you see signs of flaking, then scrape it off. Depending on the extent of the damage, you might be able to repair the damaged area, or if it is significant, you are best to sand back to the bare wood.
In that case, apply a primer coat. Sand down the primer or repaired surface, clean with white spirit, and repaint the surface.
It might seem a bit of a pain to do this, especially if it is in restricted areas like window frames but as the old saying goes, “A stitch in time saves nine.” Untreated paint damage will cause a much bigger and expensive problem down the track. As a West Auckland house painter, I have seen this many times.
If you need any help with painting your house, be sure to call us at Colourworks, a West Auckland house painter.
We wish you well over the holiday period and thank you for your business in the past.
Warm regards
Andrew Howell – 027 426 5687