General Maintenance Tips to Protect your Holiday Home
Your holiday home is a large investment for you, so there are many things that you can do regularly to protect your holiday home. You will already be aware that the holiday home insurance on your property is not a maintenance contract, so will not cover you for things breaking down or general wear and tear on your holiday home. This is why it is extremely important that you take reasonable precautions to protect your holiday home. You should make every effort to keep your holiday home well maintained, to reduce the risk of any long-term damage and expensive repair costs.
TIP: For holiday home owners who rent out their property:
If you mainly let your holiday home out, it would be good to spend a night or two inside your property. This gives you an opportunity to use appliances and to spend time inside the home, as you are much more likely to discover issues that could be missed, if you were simply doing a visual inspection.
Here is a checklist of just some things you could do to maintain your property throughout the year, to help reduce the risk of bigger problems:
- Clean your tiles and grout inside your kitchen and bathroom, resealing any areas on your worktops which are showing signs of wear and tear.
- Check the drainage from sinks, appliances, toilets, showers, baths and wash basins, to see if there are any undetected leaks, that could cause rotting and damp. A slow dripping tap can cause a lot of damage to your holiday home over a long period of time, especially if the issue is part of a much larger problem.
- Check the roof of your property regularly, removing any leaves that may have accumulated, as leaves can cause costly damage, especially in freezing temperatures. Blocked guttering and drains can cause flooding, which could lead to serious damage to your property. Make sure there are no broken or missing tiles on the roof, as a falling tile, for example, can damage other areas of your property or even your neighbour’s property.
- Check doors, gates, windows and any other areas where entry can be made, to check all of the locks are secure and working properly. This is even more important if your holiday home is left unoccupied for long periods of time.
- Check and maintain electrical sources and fittings inside the holiday home, to help with the prevention of fire. Check for example frayed wires, or wires that show wear and tear and get them looked at by a qualified electrician.
- Maintain the exterior walls of your property regularly checking for cracks and any damage, which should be repaired as soon as possible. A small crack in a wall can cause extensive damage if it’s not attended to quickly, leading to problems such as damp.
- Check all your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are in good working order and be sure to check when they were last serviced.
- If you have a chimney, sweep it at least once a year. A poorly maintained chimney could lead to a chimney fire or water may start running down the chimney, leading to damp problems within your holiday home.
TIP: Create a property maintenance checklist as this will help to ensure you do not miss anything.
Always refer to your holiday home insurance policy for details of the exact requirement you are expected to meet. This will help ensure that your holiday home insurance is not compromised, should you need to make a claim.
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