App maps maintenance plan
The owners of a Calgary home inspection service are piloting a new service to empower homeowners to take care of their own home maintenance.
Mike and Kerry Oxford of Oxford Inspections and business partner Angel Iversen launched Nurture My Home at the Calgary Home and Garden Show earlier this year, a subscription-based service that will provide help and advice from local experts.
“With inspections, we tell people what’s wrong with their home, but we want to educate them, too. Nurture My Home will help people take the steering wheel and drive their own maintenance, whether they do it themselves or hire somebody,” says Kerry, who grew up in a family where everyone knows how to swing a hammer. “Our tagline is, it’s your home. Own it.”
The Nurture My Home app is currently free to download with free service during the pandemic. Once fully operational, those who buy a subscription will get a full home inspection to establish a baseline for their home. The inspection will inform a customized maintenance plan which then becomes part of the app. The plan includes a checklist of regular maintenance jobs linked to data in the background that puts each task on the calendar.
“It keeps bringing back the things you need to do and when you need to do it. All you have to do is open the app and follow the instructions,” Kerry explains.
Every task has directions and currently some have video tutorials. Once Nurture My Home is fully launched, all tasks will have a video recorded by a local Calgary expert.
“Here’s the great thing — the homeowner doesn’t have to figure out if the information is correct or if the authority is correct because that authority is right here in Calgary,” she says. “We see the consequences of deferred maintenance, poor advice and attempting maintenance following advice found on the internet. People find things on Youtube and they don’t know the information is wrong.”
The next step is live tech support. Subscribers will be able to contact local experts and send photos or videos of issues or concerns for advice within 24 hours. Kerry says the live support won’t be for emergencies, but they hope to develop a panic button down the road and are looking for investors to move Nurture My Home farther along.