Simple home maintenance tasks to save money in 2024

CHICAGO - With the start of the new year, you may have made a resolution to take better care of your health. But what about keeping your house in tip-top shape, too?

In a FOX 32 Money Saver Report, we take a look at some simple home maintenance tasks that many of us skip that could save you some big bucks.

Charles Bellefontaine is the president of the Illinois Association of Home Inspectors. We shadowed him as he did some key home maintenance around his home.

"Water entry and animal entry into homes are going to be the two avenues I want to focus on," Bellefontaine said.

Bellefontaine says many of us don’t pay much attention to our home’s exterior, particularly where the gas, water, and electrical lines meet the house.

"These are all openings that can allow mice, rats, squirrels even – especially up in the roof," Bellefontaine said. "We’ve seen raccoons in houses, in crawl spaces, so closing those up is a big deal."

When he does a home inspection, he says 90 percent of them have mice.

"Mice can enter a hole in as little as a dime," Bellefontaine said.

The good news is it's not a lot of work to keep those pests from getting into your home if you keep up with your home maintenance. All you need is a little expandable styrofoam.

"You just spray a little bit into the opening. It will fill up. Let it dry. Once it dries, we cut it smooth and then we go ahead and caulk and look finished," Bellefontaine said.

When there is a gap between your overhead garage door and the floor, Bellefontaine says a little weather stripping should keep any pesky pests from getting in.

Next on the list:

"The biggest thing I see people make a mistake on is they don’t disconnect their hose from their water spigot for the winter months," Bellefontaine said.

Bellefontaine says that could leave you with a pipe that will burst when you turn the hose back on in the spring.

Now, let's talk about home maintenance to do on the inside.

"So one of the most important things you can do for your heating and air conditioning system is change your filters regularly. There’s no set guideline on how often to do it; it really depends on your house," said Kevin Brasler, executive editor, Chicago Consumer’s Checkbook. "And how quickly your filters get dirty."

Brasler says you should check those filters about once a month and add a reminder to your calendar to do it every month.

"By changing your HVAC filters, your furnace, your air conditioners won’t have to work so hard and you won’t have to do so much maintenance to keep them going," Brasler said. "They’ll last a lot longer."

Don't forget to check your pipes.

"I think that if it gets bitterly cold, one way to prevent pipes from freezing up is if the pipes below your cabinets. In your bathroom and your kitchen," Brasler said. "Just open the cabinet doors a little bit so that the conditioned air in your home, the warm air can get in there and prevent them from freezing."

Brasler adds you also need to check your gutters.

"Almost every basement water problem is due to clogged-up gutters or gutters that aren’t splashing far away from the homes. So it’s really important to keep your gutters clean," Brasler said.

He adds gutters should be cleaned about every two years and that you could do it yourself or that it’s inexpensive to hire someone.

By doing this preventative maintenance, our experts say you will prevent bigger problems down the road, saving you money.