Your Home Maintenance Log: What It Is and Why You Need to Start One Today

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Did you just park your car on top of your septic tank? If you're not sure, it's time to pull together a home maintenance binder. Your home maintenance binder contains important information, such as where your well and septic are located and the location of your drain field. It's a running tally of all the home improvements you've done and all the maintenance you've had performed on your home. For various reasons, every homeowner should have a home maintenance binder. Here's everything you should know about the why and how of creating your own. 

It Keeps Track of Important Upgrades

When you buy a new, energy-efficient appliance, such as a refrigerator or stove, you need to keep that information handy for several reasons:

• You may need the receipt to register the warranty.
• You'll want to remember the date you purchased it in case it needs servicing. 
• You'll need the owner's manual if you ever need to troubleshoot the appliance.
• Prospective buyers will know when you purchased the appliance and how much energy it saves.

Information like this can help you sell your home a few years down the road, when buyers realize they won't need to shell out money for new appliances right away. 

It's a Convenient Record of Service Visits

Is your furnace serviced annually? If so, you'll want the dates. This proves to prospective buyers that you maintained your home well, meaning everything is likely to work just as well as you say it will. Keep your service records, dates and providers. When you have parts replaced, keep the receipts. Keep the papers your technician gives you that lists the work performed. This is valuable information for you, for the next person who services your home and for someone who might consider buying your home in the future. 

It Records Valuable Home Improvements 

Did you recently upgrade the brick in your fireplace to stacked stone? What about those old, leaky windows you replaced last summer? You'll want to keep proof of home improvements like these because they raise the resale value of your home. You may also need your receipts to take advantage of tax credits when it's time to file. 

It Maps the Important Areas of Your Home

You may think you'll have no trouble remembering where the septic tank is when it's time to have it pumped clean again, but years typically pass before you'll need to have someone back in for that particular chore. Write down the location, and log it in your home maintenance binder. You'll also want to include the locations of water shut-off valves, well caps and gas mains. 

It's easy to start your own home maintenance log. All you need is a file box or a binder that you store in a safe place. It will help keep you organized, and it can be quite the lifesaver in the event of a gas leak or broken water pipe.