TIPS FROM OUR PROS
HERE ARE OUR HOME EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEMS MAINTENANCE RECOMMENDATIONS
Water Supply Lines
A large portion of insurance water damage claims come from old water supply lines. These are the water lines that connect to your washing machine, dishwasher, toilets, every faucet at every sink, icemakers, water filters, etc. Over time they become weakened and can burst or leak hundreds of gallons of water, causing thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in damage to your home. Not only is this expensive, it’s very disruptive to your life. These lines should be changed out every 5-7 years to be on the safe side. When you do change them out, get the very best supply lines you can as none of them are designed to last a lifetime. We recommends you get a plumber to diagnose and repair these pipe issues. You want a professional to make sure all the connections are working optimally.
Built-in Ice Makers
Make sure you clean your undercounter icemaker every 6 months. If you don’t, it will quit working in about 1-2 years. It will also build up mold. No one wants Ice from a moldy ice machine. These icemakers run $3500 or more on average. Do yourself a favor and spend the money to maintain them vs replacing them.
Built-In Coffee Systems
Clean and descale your built-in coffee systems on a regular basis. If you don’t, they will shut down to prevent damage. Different units need cleaning on different schedules. We can do a deep built-in coffee system cleaning every 3 months (or as often as you would like).
Stainless Steel
Only use a microfiber towel to clean your stainless steel. The microfiber will grab and hold onto the grime and help to get it off the surface. They are also soft enough to not scratch the surface.- If it’s actually dirty, use soap and water or a mild degreaser to clean your stainless steel. Then use a stainless polish to keep it looking good.
- Do Not ever use SOS pads, Green plastic scrubbers, or anything else abrasive on your stainless steel. It will scratch it and you will be calling me to try and fix it.
- Do NOT put magnets on your stainless steel refrigerator. I’ve seen so many situations where the magnet gets dragged across the surface and will leave scratches.
- Do NOT attempt to fix scratches on your stainless steel yourself. We have seen so many situations where it just makes it worse and we cannot get the best end results. Please call us to discuss.
Cleaning Supply Recommendations:
Our most used cleaning products are easy to find and use. We use these on a daily basis: We use all of these products with a microfiber towel. Microfiber towels are soft enough to not damage your surface and help to grab onto the grime to remove it. Just wash when it when it gets dirty.
- Bar Keepers Friend (we use the liquid version): Use it to remove light rust, stains and any markings that won’t come off with soap and water or degreaser (like 409). Only use it on hard, solid surfaces like tile, granite, porcelain, and glass.
- Perfect Sink: This is not a daily cleaner but something that would be used every couple of months. All sinks start to get dingy in time. This will pull all that off and leave your sink(s) looking great.
- Goof Off: It’s a great product for removing the sticky residue from stickers and anything else that won’t come off with a standard degreaser.