Staying on top of everything involved in keeping St. Cloud homes in tip-top condition requires at least some degree of parallel concentration—a skill that can be hard to manifest when major maintenance issues are underway. If you are in the midst of a re-roofing project, for instance—comparing bids, then overseeing the progress of your St. Cloud roofing contractor—it’s less likely that you will also be focusing on a back door that could use re-screening.

Along those lines, here is a short collection of St. Cloud home maintenance tasks it’s all too easy to put off. Here are five of those:

1.      Water heater. It’s simply a fact (an invisible one) that corrosion-causing sediment will shorten a water heater’s service life. Cleaning it out has a nice side benefit: lower power consumption all winter long.

2.      Drip pan. Most refrigerators gather excess moisture in a drip pan behind the kick panel. When you pull it out, be careful: it usually is full (sometimes including mold). If the drain lines are being obstructed with mold, they can be cleared with a reshaped clothes hanger…but when doing the clearing, protect yourself by wearing a mask (St. Cloud homeowners have plenty of those, nowadays!).

3.      Lint screen. The clothes dryer’s lint screen gradually accumulates a film that makes it less efficient—even putting excess strain on the blower motor. It’s simple to soak it in a dishwasher soap and hot water bath, then gently brush and rinse.

4.      Fire Extinguisher. Their expiration dates are always visible (and too-often ignored). When you need them to work, nothing’s more important!

5.      Preparedness Kit. Many St. Cloud households haven’t assembled an emergency preparedness kit to deal with possible natural disasters. In the course of studying why that is so common, FEMA developed a five-stage description of stages of behavior regarding preparing for emergencies: Pre-Contemplation (i.e., not even thinking about emergencies); Contemplation; Preparation (actively considering doing something); Action (starting to do something); and Maintenance (having prepared a kit and maintaining it for more than six months). Assembling a kit isn’t difficult, yet few U.S. households have a working flashlight, first aid kit, medications set aside for emergencies, or emergency blanket/clothing/bedding.

When St. Cloud’s autumn weather turns nice, it’s the perfect time to finish attending to the minor to-do’s that pile up over summer. In any season, I’m standing by to help with all your St. Cloud real estate matters. Call me anytime!

Providing a superior level of informed, professional real estate services to buyers and sellers throughout Central Minnesota. We have agents specializing in residential, commercial, multifamily, new construction, existing, investment properties, foreclosures/REO, and short sales with offices located in:

Five Office Locations To Serve YOU!

Saint Cloud 320-259-4554
Princeton 320-983-3555
Maple Grove 763-565-2000
Hutchinson 320-455-9127
Litchfield 320-298-1140

Premier Real Estate specializes MANY areas around Central MN including Saint Cloud, Waite Park, Rice, Royalton, Sartell, Royalton, Little Falls, Cold Spring, Saint Joseph, Elk River, Monticello, Ramsey, Saint Michael, Andover, Ham Lake, Anoka, Champlin, Buffalo, Glencoe, Brownton, Silver Lake, Kandiyohi, Dassel, Minneapolis, Maple Grove, Saint Louis Park, Saint Paul, Robbinsdale, Crystal, New Hope, Brooklyn Center and more!