You should conduct a thorough inspection of your home at least twice a year, and budget for regular maintenance work.  You don’t have to do all the maintenance work yourself (in fact if you’re not sure about something it pays to get a tradesperson in).  Print off this page or download the checklist by clicking on either of the icons above.

Here is a maintenance checklist of things to look out for...

On the roof:

• Loose roof fixings
• Holes or rust or other damage to ridging or flashing or tiles or iron sheet
• Blocked or leaking spouting
• Broken or sagging brackets on gutters.
  

Outside walls:

• Cracked or rotted or otherwise damaged cladding (also flaking paint)
• Damage to wood especially at joints or where it comes into contact with soil
• Gaps between wood or other materials, especially on corners
• Loose fixings or bricks or blocks or plaster and concrete
• Crumbling mortar between bricks
• Cracks in solid plaster
• Loose putty on window glass
• Overflowing toilet cisterns and hot water cylinder drain pipes.

Under the floor:

• Dampness in the soil or on building surfaces (this could be caused by leaking pipes, blocked drains or gully traps, or by surface run off going under the house)
• Rotting or sagging or broken structural timbers
• Gaps in the insulation
• Damaged or unsupported pipes
• Corroded metal fixings (tie wires, staples, nail plates, bolts)
• Loose structural bolts
• Gaps between pile and bearer
• Cracks in concrete foundation walls
• Rotten timber piles.

In the roof space:

• Condensation on underside of roofing paper or roofing material
• Wet or displaced insulation
• Leaks or water stains
• Corrosion of metal fittings or roofing
• Signs of active fungus or borer infestation
• Sagging beams or rafters
• Evidence of rats or mice or birds
• Insecure header tank or hot water cylinder (this is an earthquake risk).

Inside the house:

• Evidence of dampness – mildew, water stains, finishes not adhering to surfaces (paint, floor vinyl, wallpaper), sagging ceilings, rotten window frames
• Squeaky floorboards
• Jammed windows
• Sticking doors.

In the kitchen and bathroom:

• Lifting, loose or cracked tiles
• Rot in wet wall linings (especially around taps and the shower head, and along bottom edge)
• Degraded sealant around baths, tubs and basins
• Dripping taps.

Outside, check driveway, paths, fences and retaining walls for:

• Cracks or subsidence in concrete
• Deteriorating edging
• Poor run off
• Blocked culverts or drains
• Rotting structural posts
• Rot in timber palings which are in contact with the ground.