Home maintenance guides

Modern construction uses different materials and detailing to the homes most maintenance advice was written for. The result is that owners apply the wrong products, at the wrong intervals, and shorten the life of the building. Here's what actually works.

Silicone is not permanent. Bathroom and kitchen sealants degrade, harbour bacteria, and pull away from substrate. Replace every three to five years using a low-modulus sanitary silicone, never bathroom mastic, never decorator's caulk. Strip back to clean surfaces, sterilise, and apply in a single continuous bead.

Modern uPVC guttering blocks easily because the falls are shallow. Clear in late autumn after leaf fall, and again in early spring. Check downpipe outlets, check joints for drips, and check the gulley at the base for blockages. A neglected gutter causes more damp problems on new builds than any other single issue.

Walk the perimeter once a year. Look for cracked mortar, missing pointing, render hairlines, lime bloom, and staining below window cills. Small repairs done early cost a fraction of larger repairs done late. Pressure washing render is almost always a mistake.

Fascia boards, soffits, fence panels, garage doors and timber cladding need recoating on a cycle. Use breathable microporous coatings, not gloss. Sand back, treat any greying, and apply two coats. Skipping a cycle dramatically shortens the life of the timber.

Boiler service annually, MVHR filter clean every six months, extractor fan grilles wiped quarterly. These are the cheap jobs that prevent the expensive ones.