Home Maintenance Tips | New Homes | Home Builder

Home Maintenance – Do You Pass the Test?

Posted by FieldStone Homes on June 20, 2011

Home Maintenance - Tool Belt While buying a new home brings a peace of mind in terms of having to fix, change, or replace something around the house, keeping up with routine maintenance around your home will keep it in tip top shape. We came across this home maintenance quiz from NAHB and wanted to pass it along to all our buyers. On some of these issues, we even created a few short “how to” videos. Make sure to check them out.

You will want to read the entire article, but below are some of our favorite questions we wanted to pass on:

How often do forced-air furnace filters need to be changed?
According to the article, the air filter should be replaced at least every three months during the heating season. Blake, a Fieldstone Customer Care team member, walks you through how to replace an air filter in a home.
How often should the moving parts of garage doors be oiled?
According to the quiz, the garage door should be oiled every 3 months. In addition to oiling the tracks on your garage doors, Blake talks about other items on garage door maintenance that everyone will take to review.
What faucet part needs to be cleaned every three to four months?
We completely agree with the answer to this question. It is the aerator—the screen inside the end of the faucet. So why does it need to be cleaned out so often? According to Blake, it will lose water pressure over time. Not sure how to replace the aerator in your faucet? Blake will walk you through how to replace your faucet aerator.

Make sure to read the remaining questions on this test to see if you “Pass”. Your home is your biggest investment and taking proper care will help your home retain its value and provide you the most enjoyment. Please feel free to leave a comment about your home maintenance experiences and provide any tips for others.

Computer Security in Your New Home

Posted by Computer Guy on September 1, 2010

The “Company’s Computer Guy” here with some computer security tips. There are a number of security tips you should take when setting up computers and networks at your new home. These steps will protect your data and make sure your Internet access at your new home doesn’t get compromised.

Important Steps

Always use antivirus on your computer. There are some free versions out there as well as stuff you can buy. Remember that buying it usually means a subscription. If it expires then it isn’t protecting you anymore.
Also scan your computer for viruses regularly. Even the best antivirus software won’t catch everything right away so scanning will keep you protected. This is extremely important if your kids use the computer at home while you are away.
Always use a firewall. This is different from antivirus. If you use Windows, make sure the Windows Firewall is turned on.
If you have wireless at home, make sure you have set a password on it. Otherwise strangers can connect to your network and potentially see information on your computer. Be cautious of visitors you give the password to when visiting your new home.
You haven’t won the Australian lottery and no one in Nigeria owes you money. Ignore these types of scams and never send personal information to strangers online.

Just because strangers can’t get through the doors of your new home, doesn’t mean they can’t see the data on your computers. Take the necessary steps to secure your information from strangers at your new home in Southern California.

New Home Maintenance Tip on Irrigation

Posted by Blake on August 25, 2010

Hi Blake here with Fieldstone Homes….

Today we are going over maintenance tips for your irrigation system. With the heat of summer you want to make sure all your sprinklers and valves are working properly and that your control timer is set appropriately for the months of the summer.

Cleaning Irrigation Sprinklers

You want to go through and turn on all the irrigation and make sure that all the sprinkler heads are working properly. If you come across a sprinkler head that is not spraying water correctly you don’t necessarily have to change out the sprinkler when the water is on. All you need is a needle-nose pliers to grab the top of the sprinkler head, pull it up, and unscrew the top of the sprinkler head. You then can take out the filter which comes off the top. The filter is used to collect debris in the water system. When that filter collects with debris is decreases the amount of water that sprays out of the sprinkler. You simply need to wash out the filter and put it back together. Just make sure that it will spray in the direction of the grass or planter. Test out the sprinkler by turning on the valve to confirm it has been cleaned.

Testing Irrigation Valves

The first thing to do is locate the valves for your irrigation system. The irrigation valves are where the water actually flows through when the control timer is turned on and off. The valves will be located on one side of your home and can be turned on manually for testing purposes. With no valves turned on, make sure you see hear or see any water leaking from the top or bottom of the valves. If you hear water running, debris is caught up in the valve and needs to be repaired. The next step would be to turn on the valves and make sure there is no water bubbling in the ground. This would tell you if you have any broken pipes.

Fieldstone Homes builds new homes in Southern California.

Garage Door Maintenance

Posted by FieldStone Homes on August 6, 2010

Home Maintenance Tip – Garage Doors

Hi everyone, Blake here with Fieldstone. Today’s home maintenance tip is garage doors. So what you will need today is yourself, a can of silicone spray lubricant, and that’s really all you need. So let’s get started.

Wheels & Tracks

We are now in the garage and the garage door is open. You can do this with the garage door open or closed, it doesn’t really matter. First, you are going to take your silicone spray lubricant and spray each wheel. You don’t have to spray a lot, just enough to get it lubed up. You can also spray the inside bottom portion of the track because that is where the wheel is sitting. What this does is keep the wheels and track lubed, helps keep you garage operating smoothly, and a little more quietly as well. Spray down the whole track, both sides, and your good to go for your garage track.

Pressure Test

The next step to garage maintenance is a monthly test you should do on your garage doors. It is a pressure test that makes sure that when your garage door comes down it doesn’t crush you or something underneath it. As the garage door comes down, it will feel the object and with only a small amount of pressure, returns to the opening position. This is a monthly test to make sure it remains operable. If for some reason this feature becomes disabled, you should have it repaired by a licensed garage door manufacture.

Infra-red Sensors

The final maintenance test is making sure that your infra-red sensors at the bottom portion of your garage door are operable. The sensors are to determine if something walks under the garage door and trigger motion and kick the garage door back up. As my hand is waved through the sensor, the garage door stopped and then returned to the opening position.

Okay, there you have it… your maintenance tip on your garage doors.

Fieldstone Homes is a Southern California Home Builder with new communities in San Marcos and Dana Point.

Home Maintenance Tip, Shower Enclosures

Posted by Blake on July 12, 2010

Ready to talk about Shower Enclosures?

Hi Everyone…Blake here with Fieldstone Homes.

Today we are going over another home owner maintenance tip which will be the interior portion of your shower enclosure. A lot of home owners forget or don’t realize that they need to maintain the silicone caulking inside of their shower enclosure which keeps the water inside. Over time while shower or cleaning the shower over and over will eventually deteriorate the silicone that keeps the water inside the shower at the perimeter.

You should probably check this at least once a year or simply replace all of the caulking every year. The best way to get started is to take a razor knife and cut out all the old stuff which is along the perimeter of the frame and down at the bottom of the shower perimeter. Then take a clear silicone, either in a tube with a caulking gun or in a squeeze tube and apply to the perimeter of the shower enclosure.

When caulking the bottom perimeter of the shower enclosure, make sure you don’t cover up the weep holes on the frame itself. You will have 2 or 3 weep holes on the bottom of the frame to allow water to leak out if water gets under the door.

So…that is your weekly home maintenance tip for all home owners. Have a great day!

FieldStone Homes Builds New Homes in Southern California.

Homeowner Maintenance, Aerator Cleaning

Posted by Blake on July 5, 2010

Cleaning Aerator

Hi Everybody, Blake here from Fieldstone Homes.

Today we are going to go over another homeowner maintenance tip which would be your faucets and aerator. Most homeowners don’t realize that they lose water pressure over a period of time by running the water through the aerator. Debris collects in the line which cause the aerator to clog from debris.

Now, an aerator if you do not know, is the actual piece where the water comes out. Let me show you what can collect in the aerator. In order to maintain the aerator, you may want to check each of your faucets once a year, that will help keep the pressure up and water flowing. You simply need to unscrew the aerator from the faucet, rise it out, and screw it back in place.

You should now be good to go for another year.

FieldStone Homes Builds New Homes in Southern California.

Home Maintenance Tip on Smoke Alarms

Posted by Blake on June 28, 2010

Smoke Alarms

Hi Everybody Blake here with Fieldstone Homes!

Today were going to go over a crucial point in home owner maintenance, which would be your smoke alarm. A lot of homeowners don’t realize they do have to maintain their smoke alarms. It’s pretty crucial for the safety of your family. You want to change the battery in your smoke alarm about every 6 months. Every time you change your clocks is a good way to remember it, day light savings time.

Majority of all smoke alarms take a 9-volt battery. Pull out the battery and throw away. Place a brand new 9-volt battery in its place. Note that in smoke alarms, the battery is just a backup battery for power just in case the power goes out. Smoke alarms are hard-wired to your electrical panel on the outside of the house.

Another thing you want to test on the smoke alarm is the actual functioning of the smoke alarm. There is a test button on all smoke alarms. You just hold down the button for about 3 seconds, it should beep and make the whole house beep because they wired together. If the smoke alarm does not beep it will let you know that they need to be re-placed or serviced.

Have a great day!

Home Maintenance Tip, Air Filters

Posted by Blake on June 21, 2010

Hi Everybody…Blake here with Fieldstone Homes.

I would like to go over with you today changing air filters in your home. Now, in the summer months you’re going to change your air filter a little more often than the winter months because you normally run your air conditioning more in the summer. On average, you will want to change your air filter every 2 months depending on how often you run your air conditioner. If you live in a new home in Southern California, maybe living close to the ocean and get a breeze, you will not need to run it as often. You really want to change it depending on how dirty your air filter gets.

So, here’s how you actually change your air filter. You need to locate where the air return is in your home. In most homes you can find it in the ceiling, but sometimes you will find them down next to the floor. You will start by flipping down the tabs on the cover and carefully pulling down the air return grate. Simply pull out the dirty air filter and discard appropriately. You will find the measurements of the air filter on the side of the air filter, so no need to use a tape measure here.

You can find many of standard size air filters at a Home Depot or Lowe’s Home Improvement store. Once you purchase a new air filter, you simply will fit the new air filter into the air return and return the grate back into its position, lock the tabs back into position and your good to go.

Until next time…

FieldStone Homes has been building new homes in Southern California since 1981 and has built more than 25,000 new homes for families just like yours.