DIY – Maintenance That Increases Your Home’s Value

The term “DIY” is thrown around a lot in today’s media.  Many people who are “in the business” know that this term means Do It Yourself, and they spend hours doing just that with practically every project around their home.  Sometimes this work is done to enhance the appearance of a home, garden, shop, or public area.  Many times, Do It Yourselfers are taking on the work themselves in order to produce affordable results which will help them sell their home.

In order to provide some helpful tips to those new home buyers who are looking to purchase a new inventory home or to build a custom home of their dreams, but they are unable to get started because they still have a home to sell; we are Ron Lee Homes would like to give some tips and tricks on how to use DIY tactics to spruce up your home to increase its value and get it ready to sell.  So, here goes, our list of DIY tips for the kitchen:

1. Apply Some Love to Your Appliances: When selling your home, think about all of the effort that you put into creating the perfect kitchen, whether you use it for catering and entertaining friends, or if it’s the heart of your family’s activities and milestones.  You may have installed specialty appliances, such as stainless steel appliances, upgraded gas appliances, or even a Viking kitchen setup.  You probably spent a lot of time and effort buying the perfect refrigerator to match your kitchen’s theme in order to blend in, as well as to offer the most square footage for cool storage and freezing as possible.  It is very important not to neglect your appliances.  One of the things that will make your home show well in order to sell is to thoroughly clean all of your appliances, both inside and out.  You should also consider completely defrosting your refrigerator and freezer, cleaning your fans, checking for cracks or leaks in either your collecting cup or an evaporating pan (dependent on the model), and if necessary replace the water filters in your refrigerator as well as your iceline.  Special cleaners are sold for stainless steel appliances.  If you are trying to sell your home, it is important to spend a little bit extra to get these specialty cleaners in order to make your appliances shine like new.

2. Clean From Top to Bottom: While spending a lot of time and focus on the actual appliances in your kitchen, don’t neglect the one item that will filter out all of your excess steam, smoke, and smell from your kitchen while you cook – your vent hood.  You may not realize it, but your vent hood collects a significant amount of grease while it is essentially filtering the air in your kitchen.  You should take special care to thoroughly clean all surfaces of your vent hood. The next part to check the type of vented hood that you have.  More modern kitchens utilize a ductless cooktop vent hood which uses a carbon charcoal filter to recirculate and clean the air along the way.  Make sure to replace this filter every 6 months if your kitchen has one of these vent hoods.

3. Gas Ovens Produce…Gas: Believe it or not, it’s important to pay close attention to your gas appliances if you cook with gas, which can be preferable for medium to high-capacity cooks and chefs.  While your stovetop may adjust your temperature perfectly for thickening your sauces or creating the perfect roux, your gas oven may not be as forgiving of drippings that may come off of the many delectable casseroles and souffles that you cook in your oven.  The more drippings that are burned off in high temperatures in your gas oven, the more carbon monoxide is produced.  Many experts recommend installing a carbon monoxide detector in the room adjacent to your kitchen (if you use a gas oven) in order to detect an unsafe production of carbon monoxide from your oven.  By acting as a responsible homeowner, you will not only have a clean oven to show potential buyers, and you will also let them know that you are keeping your home safe and maintained from harmful gas exposure.

4. Protect Your Surfaces: The surface on which you cook is the most highly used and important part of your kitchen.  These surfaces are where you set your groceries, fix sandwiches, roll out dough, cut and prep meat and vegetables, and visit with your friend when you are having a glass of wine and a long visit.  Most people worry constantly about keeping their countertops germ-free, but whey they  may miss is that these surfaces must be kept sealed and protected in order to make them last.  Even though your builder may have explained that the countertops installed were granite countertops, there are many different types of granite countertops, so be sure to check your documentation, or if applicable, your warranty, to check to see the type of maintenance and sealing time periods are recommended in order to maintain the appearance and quality of your countertops.  Different countertop styles require different maintenance.  For marble countertops, you may want to seal them if you use a lot of acidic food because the acid mars the marble.  For soapstone or butcher block countertops, these must be sealed with oil.  While you can’t seal solid-surface (Corian or plastic top) countertops, you can “repair” them from slices or scratches by using a jeweler’s emery pad to rub out these scratches.  However you decide to take care of your countertops, or how often you decide to seal them will decide if your kitchen will show well when or if you decide to sell your home.

5. Kill the Mildew! Louisiana homeowners are no strangers to mildew, as for many, it is a constant fight to keep the mildew from creeping into the house.  However, there are some simple ways to ensure that your kitchen sink or sinks don’t first of all grow mildew, or if they already have, how to clean them so that your kitchen does not show any mildew damage.  The most important part of your kitchen sink is how the sink is sealed to your countertops, the backsplash, or the wall.  The caulking used to seal the sink keeps water from seeping into the cabinets below or into the sheetrock against the wall.  This water seepage and settling will grow mildew in a hurry if the caulking is not repaired or replaced.  If your caulking for your sink is gone, you can simply replace it.  However, we recommend to thoroughly clean around the entire area that will be caulked with a mildew remover in order to completely kill the mildew before you reseal your sink.  Once you have cleaned off all of the mildew, then thoroughly seal the sink with the appropriate caulking.  It is very important not to remove caulking that does not have mildew damage and has not pulled away from the sink.  Caulking over this already existing caulk will only  make your seal stronger.

So, in addition to making your home’s kitchen show it’s very best, we have also given you some excellent tips to make sure that you have literally cleaned all parts, components, and appliances in your kitchen from the inside out.  So, even if your home does not sell immediately, you will still enjoy the fruits of your labor by have a perfectly clean and safe kitchen.

 

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