HOME HERO
JOURNEY
Home Hero Journey - Choose Your Path
Whether you are an intrepid DIY enthusiast or a time-crunched busy homeowner, Home Hero has a path for you.
The Intrepid DIY Path
Your Home Hero Journey will familiarize you with all the different parts of your home and teach you how to maintain and protect them. Once you have set up your Home Hero profile, you will receive email alerts whenever a maintenance task is due.
The Busy Homeowner
You can work with your handyman to set up your Home Hero profile. You will receive comprehensive reports showing all maintenance tasks that YOUR home needs and when they should be performed. Hand off the report to your favorite handyman two to four times a year to keep your house in tip-top shape.
The Hybrid Path
You might DIY some maintenance tasks and hand other tasks off to your handyman. The Home Hero weekly report will allow you to easily highlight the maintenance tasks you want your handyman to perform and will include all the information they will need.
Your Home Hero Journey has three phases:
This is quick and easy and covers the most critical parts of your home.
Phase Two – Power Through the Backlog
This may be simple or challenging depending on the age and complexity of your home. We will identify fixtures that require repair as well as work through any deferred maintenance tasks. As you (or your handyman) complete recurring maintenance tasks, you will enter the approximate date in the Home Hero binder.
Phase Three – Relax and Enjoy
Congratulations! The hard work is done. Now you get to relax and enjoy. Simply use your Home Hero binder to stay up-to-date on all your recurring home maintenance tasks. Or work with a certified Home Hero Handyperson and they will take care on tracking and completing all your home maintenance tasks for you.
Congratulations! The hard work is done. Now you get to relax and enjoy. You will receive email reminders anytime a recurring maintenance task is due. When you complete the task simply click the link in the email to enter the approximate date in the Google form associated with that task. Then the clock will restart for your next reminder. Reminders can be “snoozed” for a week, a month, or 3 months.
You will also receive a weekly report of all home maintenance tasks that are past due and upcoming. This report can be handed-off to a handyman or home professional to complete.
Your Home Hero Journey Step-by-Step
Preparing for Your Journey
- Ask your neighbors for recommendations for plumbers, electricians, etc…
- Get a notepad to serve as a dedicated location to store notes and information
- Brain dump all the home maintenance issues that you already know about
- Snap pictures of “mysterious” equipment or fixtures in your home
Detailed directions coming soon…
PHASE ONE
The Bare Essentials
- Check Your Smoke and CO Detectors
- Find your water main shut-off
- Find your electric panel
PHASE two
Water
- Consider upgrading water main shut-off, Upgrade Option: “smart” automatic shut-off
- Get annual check up of water heater
- Test sink, toilet, and appliance shut-offs for leaking or seized in place
- Do the Toilet Shimmey!
- Find outdoor spigot winter shut-offs.
- Consider upgrading to frost-proof fixtures
- Run all sinks, showers, tubs, dishwashers, clothes washers, etc… to see if they are draining slowly
- Replace hoses to clothes washer, dishwasher, and water heater if older than 5 years
- Confirm all toilets are not leaking
- Upgrade Option: place “smart” water sensors under dishwasher, clothes washer, water heater, boiler, behind toilets, etc…,
Heating, Ventilation, & Air Conditioning (HVAC)
- Furnace and Air Handler Owners – Get annual furnace check-up from a licensed professional at the start of the heating season
- Furnace and Air Handler Owners – Replace furnace filter every 3 months of use
- Furnace and Air Handler Owners – Seal gaps in ducts and heavily insulate any ducts that go through unconditioned space, such as an unheated garage, attic, or crawlspace
- Central Air Conditioning owners – Get annual air conditioning check-up from a licensed professional at the start of the cooling season
- Boiler Owners – Flush sediment out of boiler annually. More tasks coming soon…
- Heatpump and Mini-Split Owners – Clean the removable filters monthly. Professionally clean the mini-split head at least once a year.
Large Appliance Maintenance
- Dryer Owners – Clean or replace dryer vent annually. Vacuum lint from accessible parts of the dryer.
DO NOT IGNORE – FIRE HAZARD
- Clothes Washer Owners – Run Sanitize cycle with washer cleaning additive and clean water pump filter monthly, perhaps less frequently if low usage
- Dishwasher Owners – Clean filter weekly.
- Refrigerator – Vacuum Coils annually. Replace water filter quarterly. Replace water supply hose every five years
- Cooktop Exhaust Hood Owners – Clean oil filters weekly. Check manufacturer info to see if they are dishwasher-safe.
- Sump Pump Owners – Test that your sump pump turns on automatically when water is present
Prepare your Home for Winter
- Clean gutters
- Close winter shut-offs for outdoor spigots and open outdoor spigot to drain pipe.
- Close storm windows, if present.
- Consider installing thermal shades
- If available, schedule free home energy audit from your utility or state agency.
- Check your supply and condition of snow shovels, ice scrapers, deicing salt/sand for sprinkling on walkways
- Winterize lawn mower and yard equipment
- Check radon monitoring
Prepare your Home for Spring
- Inspect gutters for damage and confirm gutter spouts are directing water away from the foundations
- Open interior winter shut-offs for outdoor spigots
- Service lawn mower and sharpen blade
- Check your supply of lawn and garden supplies.
- Dethatch and aerate your lawn
- Fertilize and seed your lawn
- Inspect trees for damaged branches. Trim as needed
- Inspect perimeter of the foundation for termite tunnels
- Clean and prep patio and/or porch
- Inspect and repair window screens
- Test sump pump
- Check radon monitoring
- Schedule your annual cooling system tune-up with a licensed professional
- Stow away winter supplies
- Snow Blower Owners – Prep snow blower for storage
Detailed directions coming soon….
In Development
stay tuned...
Talk to us
Have any questions? We are always open to talk about your home and how we can help you.