Plus, four tips for making maintenance more manageable — do two of these before you even move in.
Owning a home can be joyous, bringing you immense pride and a sense of accomplishment. But we won’t lie; achieving that sense of bliss sometimes requires repainting your kitchen ceiling. Or repairing a leak in your shower drain pipe. Or changing fire alarm batteries located at the tip-top of your tall cathedral ceilings. Practically every homeowner has a home maintenance chore they try to put off as long as possible — or find someone else to do it instead.
What’s yours?
We asked on Facebook, and thousands of you answered. While our survey is by no means statistically valid, and everyone’s experience differs, 11 types of tasks emerged as the most disliked. (And a few of you even told us what you love.)
Here’s the list, with a sampling of the homeowners’ comments.
1. Repairing plumbing or water-related disasters
Many homeowners would rather do anything than deal with plumbing problems. Hot-water heaters, toilets, leaks and more were frequently mentioned in our informal survey.
“Needing a new hot water heater. Water all over in the finished basement.” — Rosanna Becce Ali
“Unclogging the drains.” — Sonia Lumley
“Fix a water leak.” — Jeannie Fields
“Change out a toilet.” — Barry Gabler
“All things plumbing.” — Michael De Gregorio Jr.
“Calling the plumber.” — Mary Kanaske
2. Cleaning or replacing the septic tank and sewer pipe
Sewage disposal, via a septic tank or sewer pipe, a.k.a., a “sewer line,” was also widely despised among homeowners.
“Sewer clean out, ewwww!!!” — Christy Stahl
“Replacing the sewer line. $” — Shirley Russell Obrien
“Septic tank clean out.” — Bruce Thornock
“Snake the drain to the septic tank.” — Lehman Smith
“Replacing the septic tank, like I just did, three days of PIA work!” — Bob Flanagan
3. Painting those difficult-to-reach areas
From prep work to finishing the interior trim, painting is yet another maintenance chore homeowners love to hate, and exteriors are generally more difficult than interiors — that is, depending on what you’re painting. Anyone who’s ever painted a ceiling can relate.
“Painting our huge wrap-around porch! It’s so much work!” — Christy Miller
“Painting the ceilings. I don’t mind the walls.” — Sharon Thompson Adair
“Painting the entire house inside or out all by myself. Three times was enough for me.” — Paul Mault
“Painting the house. It took a long time but saved $3,500.” — Edward Miller
“Painting the interior walls and woodwork!! Large house, big rooms!” — Wanda Monarch
“Painting. Especially painting woodwork! There is no end!” — Joanne Abdill
4. Keeping the house clean
From dusting to mopping, homeowners have no shortage of despised cleaning tasks. And while apartment dwellers also clean their homes, houses tend to be bigger — oftentimes a lot bigger, making cleaning chores a bigger hassle.
“Mopfoldwashcleantoiletdust. Is that one word?” — David Alford
5. Maintaining the yard
Home buyers love lush green lawns. But it’s not until you become a homeowner that you realize the hard work it can take to keep them that way. Mowing, seeding, raking, trimming and weeding on repeat, can take a toll on the most dedicated gardener.
“Mowing. Hate it with a passion.” — Sandy McWilliams
“Weeds — I so hate weeds!!!” — Rose Anna
6. Anything involving a ladder
Many homeowners are rightfully fearful of ladders because of the significant risk of falling off one.
“Anything that involves a ladder.” — Ted Tarrant
“Changing light bulbs, smoke-detector batteries, etc. Anything requiring a ladder!” — Susan Sweeney
“Cleaning ceiling fans, items on top of cabinets. Anything I have to use a ladder to reach.”
— Mary Moquin
7. Anything involving the crawl space
First-time home buyers may be surprised to learn that some chores actually require crawling into the space underneath the house. Crawl spaces tend to be dark, dank and dirty with very, very low ceilings.
“Anything under the house.” — Randy Welborn
“Needing to get under the house to repair broken water pipes… Where I live in the desert, you could possibly run into anything from a rattlesnake to a bunch of pack rats, any and all kinds of wildlife.” — Edward McCluskey
8. Deck maintenance
Outdoor decks earned special ire for their frequent, ongoing maintenance needs.
“Sanding and painting deck railings!” — June Paynter
“Staining my deck!!!” — Brenda Brown
9. Cleaning gutters, windows and screens
Exterior cleaning chores, like clearing rain gutters, shoveling snow and washing windows, also made the list. The bigger the house, the more time-consuming these chores can become.
“Wash windows and screens. I’ll do about anything to get out of it.” — Cheryl Warner
“Tied between cleaning gutters and shoveling snow.” — Eric Biss
10. Roof repairs
Most homeowners hire a pro for roof repairs. But some actually DIY this project (we don’t recommend this). That doesn’t mean they like it.
“The roof. We just replaced it ourselves, and omg…” — Heather Holston
11. All of the above
Rather than name a specific chore, some homeowners expressed their disgruntlement with the entire universe of maintenance jobs.
“Pretty much everything that goes with owning the house.” — Patricia Crowe
“All of them.” — Ray Peterson
“Just one???” — Gwen Bilbey
4 tips for making home maintenance less of a chore
Fortunately, there are ways to make home maintenance less onerous.
1. When you buy a house, get a professional home inspection.
This way you can get an understanding of the home’s potential problem areas. In other words, an inspection will likely be able to tell you how worn your roof is and whether it may need to be replaced in the near future, or how long you have before your furnace needs to be serviced. Some inspectors will even provide you with a personalized checklist for maintenance tasks for planning ahead. Note that an inspection doesn’t always catch everything.
2. Before you get an inspection, think about what types of tasks are deal-breakers for you.
Homes requiring less maintenance tend to be newer, smaller, in better condition, updated with easy-to-clean finishes and fixtures and not located on a hill, large lot or street with big, leafy trees.
3. Budget for routine maintenance and repairs, so it’s not a surprise.
Create a line item in your budget for home maintenance. Research costs in your neighborhood and ask your neighbors for advice to figure out how much you can expect to spend. Note that some companies may offer programs where you pay for their services once and they will cover you for the full year, or they may allow you to do a monthly payment plan for a service so that you avoid one large lump sum.
4. Know when to hire a pro rather than DIY.
Pros can be expensive, but they can also save you time and money and make maintaining your home safer for you and your family.
Despite the hassles, homeowners soldier on with their maintenance chores because, at the end of the day, when the plumbing’s unclogged, the ceiling’s painted and the deck’s ready for summer, there’s no feeling quite as wonderful as owning your own home.
“I love taking care of my home. There is little I don’t like to do, just wish I had more time to do it.” — Kathy Davis
“Same here. I love cleaning my home and doing outside work making it beautiful.” — Melinda Dowd