When I read that Irv Gordon from Patchogue, New York, had logged almost 3,000,000 miles on his 1966 Volvo P1800, I thought that surely I had misread that number. Three hundred thousand, yes, but 3,000,000? I was not mistaken, and Irv attributes his car’s exceptional longevity to painstaking maintenance.
With some facsimile of such discipline, our homes can also get great mileage.
My home is celebrating its 278th New Year, having witnessed the American Revolution, the Civil War, two World Wars, the Depression, presidential assassination, and terrorist attack, along with the invention of electricity, indoor plumbing, technological wonders, and normal wear and tear to the structure itself. Just since I have owned it, there has been a roof leak, flooded basement, the last gasp of a hot water heater, then the boiler, and the most spectacular occurrence when the transformer on my corner exploded and blew my electrical panel completely off the basement wall.
But, on the positive side I can see that the guardians of the house prior to me had taken steps to upgrade and maintain it through the years, and I have tried my best to continue that tradition. However, sometimes life gets in the way.
I was spoiled by my previous home. It had been completely renovated just before I bought it and I never had to do anything to keep in going for the five years of my ownership. I couldn’t get away with a continuing free pass after living for more than 30 years in my new, old home. But, embarrassed as I am to admit it, I’ve usually waited until something has malfunctioned before attending to it, rather than taking preventative measures.
And that’s probably a natural thing for most of us. Realistically, when was the last time you cleaned your chimney or, better yet, drained your hot water tank?
For those of you who want to join me in making a New Year’s resolution to gift your home with proper maintenance, click here is a checklist of the basic “to dos.”
Checklist for Home Maintenance
Bill Primavera is a Realtor (www.PrimaveraRealEstate.com) in New York representing all of beautiful Westchester and Putnam Counties above Manhattan. He also is a marketing practitioner (www.PrimaveraPR.com) specializing in the lifestyles arena, and writes a syndicated column called “The Home Guru” which deals with all aspects of the housing market, design, decorating and landscaping. He can reached directly at bill@PrimaveraRealEstate.com or call 914-522-2076.
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