What may seem like a good idea, often isn't. Here are 10 common mistakes new homeowners often make.
1. Eliminate Your Only Tub
Even if you only use your tub to wash the mini-blinds, most real estate agents are adamant about having at least one bathtub in your house to preserve marketability.
A recent Houzz poll agrees, with 58% of respondents claiming, "you'll never sell that house without a tub."
2. Leave Cabinet Doors on While Painting
Painting your kitchen cabinets pays off big at resale — it's a small investment for a big "wow." But the job's time-consuming, so it's tempting leave the doors on. RESIST. At all costs. It’s impossible to do a good job without removing the doors unless you have a professional painter come in and spray paint the cabinets.
3. Put Starchy Food Down the Disposal
Today's garbage disposals can handle more challenging foods than earlier models, but starchy comestibles like potatoes, rice, and oatmeal still stump them.
Fun fact: Every Halloween, plumbers see an increase in calls because people are dumping pumpkin guts into the disposal.
Starchy foods clump when they hit water, clogging disposals and pipes. Instead, put them in the garbage can or, even better, your compost pile. I must admit, I have been guilty of this one. 😊
4. Plant a Tree Close to Your House
That young sapling just a few feet from your door seems so harmless. Until it grows up. In addition to the risk of falling limbs, tree roots from mature trees can weaken your home's foundation and clog plumbing and sewer pipes. Plant medium and large trees at least 30 to 50 feet from the house. Put small trees (30 feet tall or less) at least eight, preferably 10, feet away.
5. Flush “Flushable" Wipes
Sewer systems are facing a growing menace: flushable wipes. Despite the name, most don't disintegrate, even after 10 minutes (compared to a few seconds for toilet paper). Until a truly flushable wipe exists, don't flush them — or anything non-organic, for that matter. Stick with good ol' TP instead.
6. Cover Wallpaper with Water-based Paint
You don't have to remove that dated wallpaper – simply paint over it. Just don't do it with water-based paint. It can reactivate wallpaper glue and cause the paper to peel. Instead, use oil-based primer, let it dry completely, and then apply latex paint over it. Oil-based primer has long been the industry standard and works well with oil and latex paints.
7. Paint Exterior Brick
Brick needs to breathe. Paint chokes it. Paint can destroy the brick and mortar and even cause the foundation to crumble. Talk about a hidden cost! If you're itching for a new exterior look, try new shutters, paint the front door, or update your landscaping. Those moves can scratch your itch and boost your curb appeal. If you just can't live with your brick color, try brick stain, which bonds with the brick, allowing it to breathe.
8. Let Ceiling Fans Run Forever
Ceiling fans don't decrease the temperature in a room; they increase how quickly your sweat evaporates, making you feel cooler. Since it's only beneficial to run ceiling fans when people are in the rooms to enjoy their breeze, save money by turning them off when you're out.
9. Keep an Old-Fashioned Thermostat
Maintaining a cozy home temp while you're at work or sleeping wastes money and energy. If your house came with a non-programmable thermostat, you'll have to manually change it multiple times a day to avoid all that waste. (Like you need another task on the way out the door.) Install a programmable thermostat. One in the $150 range saves a typical household $131-$145 annually, so it's practically free. Most programmable thermostats can be connected to your homes internet (if you have internet) and can be controlled by a smartphone. I love this feature on our thermostat. I can control when I’m laying in bed or even out of town.
10. Put a Brick in Your Toilet
To decrease water use and save money, many people put bricks in their older, high-water-use toilets. But bricks crumble in water and can damage or clog pipes.
Replace the toilet ($350 or less) or fill a half-gallon milk jug with sand and drop it in the tank instead (saving about half a gallon per flush). Actually we replaced our toilet with low flush toilets for less that $200. Some cities have programs that offer low flush toilets to save the cities water supply.
11. Water Grass at Night
It may seem smart to water in the evening – especially if you have a sprinkler system, because electrical rates are lower. But without sun to evaporate it, water is more likely to cling to grass at night, promoting fungus. Instead, water in the morning when the air is cool, the sun is arriving, and there's less wind than midday.
