Are you looking to learn more about home maintenance? More specifically, apartment maintenance?

Perhaps you want to learn about the common mistakes that you should avoid making?

In doing so, you can enjoy the experience of living at home, in your apartment, more. If you play your cards right, you'll only have to perform a few bits of maintenance throughout your stay.

However, it's still important that you learn what costly maintenance mistakes you should avoid.

Here are several home maintenance mistakes that you should prevent yourself from making in your apartment. Be sure to factor all of them in as you enjoy your stay.

1. Forgetting to Switch Out the Air Filter

One of the biggest advantages of renting an apartment as a whole is the lack of responsibility when it comes to maintenance and repairs. However, there is one piece of maintenance that falls on you, and many renters forget it too often: the air filter.

As your HVAC unit pushes continuous airflow through its system, the filter acts as a net that catches all the dirt in the air. This way, you can have clean air pushed through the vents of your home via the air-conditioner or heater.

However, as the dirt continues to gather on the air filter, it becomes harder and harder for the HVAC unit to push air through, forcing it to work twice as hard.

You should aim to replace the air filter once a month to ensure optimum performance for the unit. To help you remember, make it a habit to switch out the filter right after you pay your rent each month.

Air filters are super cheap, so they won't require much of your apartment maintenance budget to replace.

2. Not Acting on Signs of Water Damage

Water damage is detrimental to both your health as well as the integrity of the unit you're living in. If not corrected, it can start a vicious cycle of mold growth that will be hard to resolve.

The problem is, water damage isn't obvious right away. Sometimes it can start in the walls and do significant damage before you notice it. If not corrected, it will cause a need to replace several different materials in your home.

As soon as you notice signs of water damage, contact your apartment complex right away. The faster that you act on it, the less damage that will have to be fixed after the leak is taken care of.

3. Allowing Dust to Pile Up

Dust is more detrimental to your health than most people believe it to be. it can cause severe irritation in your eyes, cause significant breathing problems, and even get caught in your lungs which will provide further health complications.

The only way that dust will gather in your apartment is if you allow it to. Too many people forgo dusting when they perform their weekly chores of sprucing up the house.

Don't let yourself fall into this statistic. Be proactive in dusting around your kitchen, around your living room, your bedroom, any ceiling fans you have, etc.

If you or one of your loved ones has significant allergies, then this chore becomes all the more important. Make sure to prioritize it in your routine. An added benefit is that frequent dusting will prolong the life of your devices such as your computer and TV!

4. Putting Tape on the Walls

For those of you that have kids in the house, you've probably let them hang posters and pictures on their wall with tape. This can be a costly mistake, as the tape will tear away the paint or paper that's on your wall.

In order to avoid that, try using things like sticky tack to place on the walls instead, which will help posters hang for years and will be easy to take off.

No matter how much you love the apartment, you're probably hoping to one day move into a house of your own. If you allow tape on your walls, it could lead to you paying for repairs after you move out of your current apartment. Always think ahead!

5. No Communication with Maintenance Staff

The maintenance staff at your new apartment is there for a reason. They are there to provide any repairs or replacements to the utilities in your apartment so that you don't have to.

Many apartment renters feel bad if they contact the maintenance crew too often. Other renters don't like the idea of someone else frequently coming into their space.

Because of that, they avoid contacting the maintenance crew until the problem gets to significant to bear. Be sure to contact the staff at your apartment any time you feel something is wrong.

6. Dealing with Clogs

Clogs are one of the most common problems that you'll deal with, regardless of whether you rent or own.

If you're renting, the apartment complex might have rules against using products such as Drano, drain snakes, etc. Be sure to (once again) reach out to your maintenance crew and ask for their recommendations. They'll come to take a look and give you ideas of what to do if the problem persists.

Avoid These Home Maintenance Mistakes At All Costs

Now that you've seen several of the most common home maintenance mistakes in apartments, be sure to actively avoid them.

Be sure to visit this page in order to find the perfect apartment for you and your family's needs.

For more inquiries on finding the right apartment, be sure to reach out via our contact us page and we'll be happy to assist you further!