YOU’VE saved for years and finally bought your house. That’s just the first step; now you have to maintain the property. It’s the only way to retain its value and protect your investment.

According to second vice-president of the Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica (IMAJ) Paul Williams, the biggest mistake many people make is “taking a property for granted”.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer, he provided tips on things to stay on top of — from faulty floor tiles to leaking roofs.

Williams suggests having a maintenance checklist that takes the emotion out of decision-making, a clear road map for tackling small issues before they become big problems, and setting aside a budget to get the work done over time, in manageable bites. A lot of his tips apply equally to residential and commercial property.

For example, he suggests a fresh coat of paint every three years, changing plumbing fixtures every five years, having an electrician check the entire property every two years, deep cleaning once a year for homes, steam cleaning curtains in commercial buildings once every five years, pest control every six months, and basically making sure your property looks cared for at all times.

Williams explained that faults are easy to overlook by those who regularly use a space. The need for a fresh coat of paint, for example, may not be immediately obvious to a homeowner but it may be glaringly obvious to a first-time visitor. Then there is the tendency to opt for a quick fix instead of changing a faulty item. Plumbing is one area where this is often seen.

“If the toilet starts leaking too regularly, it is more often than not cheaper to change it than to keep over-tightening or locking it off when it’s not in use, and then turning it back on; because it stains the bowl, which ultimately leads to you having to change it. But in-between changing the bowl you would have been paying for consistent repairs, when what is required is for you to change it because it’s at the end of its useful life,” he told the Sunday Observer.

“Your faucets will need changing like once every five years, unless there is something that goes significantly awry. Your toilets around about the same: once every five years,” Williams added.

He suggests, especially for commercial buildings but also useful for private homes, having a professional inspection of the entire property done every five years. That’s a good way to ward off potential problems or fix things before they get worse. There are also simple checks a homeowner can do.

“One of the problems a lot of people are having in Jamaica now is tiles popping up. Most times when your tiles pop up, it’s because moisture is able to get through the joints to under the tile. When the water heats up, it expands, so it starts lifting your tiles. A simple test is to actually knock on the tiles to see if you get a hollow sound. If you’re getting a hollow sound, it means that your tiles are lifting from the surface,” said Williams.

If the issue is not too severe, a quick fix would be to “put a rich cement liquid mix through the grout joints to fill the voids and re-bond the tile to the concrete surface”.

But the key is to check before it becomes a problem.

“A lot of people don’t know until, based on that void, somebody steps on the tile and it breaks, and then it starts to unravel from there,” said Williams.

Similar to the tendency to overlook problems underfoot, problems above our heads are sometimes ignored. The professional cautioned against that.

“Your roof has aesthetic appeal, but it also has a functional purpose,” he stressed.

“We see it so often in houses and in commercial buildings. [They say], ‘Don’t place any furniture out there, because when it rains, it’s going to leak’. So we take our buckets and put over there. But you get that stain on the roof and in terms of the value of your property, that is a significant reduction because of things like these,” he warned.

Another way to ensure your property retains its value is to make upgrades needed to keep it current. This includes the electrical system. Williams stressed that calling an electrician should not only be restricted to when something goes wrong.

“Once every two years, have an electrician come in, run through your circuits to see if the breakers are now at the age of retirement. You need to change the breakers every five to 10 years so you can have proper current flow through your circuits,” he urged.

“If you don’t check them, because of that lack of inspection, what you get is that that breakers keep tripping on a regular basis…It might be that, based on the new appliances that you’re using, the loading on the breaker in inadequate. We’re using new and different things on a regular basis, but with an expectation that the old systems are to be able to manage them,” he added.

He also suggests replacing the traditional, less energy-efficient air-conditioning unit with one that has an inverter, changing out old pipes and paying attention to windows and doors.

“We still have buildings with galvanised pipe. With each chance you get, for example, if you’re changing some toilets, change out those old pipes that are now getting corroded and will lead to a bigger problem,” said Williams.

“That seal around your windows will go with ageing, and check on your kerb appeal. Are the windows in keeping with what is now in your surroundings? If it’s a rented space does it appeal to your clients? Whoever is occupying the space, that space is very important to that person or that company,” he added.

To get past challenges of hiring help that may only make your minor problem worse, Williams spoke of the need to use certified and licensed professionals. IMAJ can help with that if you give them a call.

“We can send contact information for three or five of our members that you can choose from. We don’t normally give you a singular option,” he said.

HEART/NSTA Trust can also help.

“They can tell you, from their listing of graduates, that they have these three or five plumbers or carpenters. But you are sure that these people are certified,” said Williams.