Simple home repairs ward off serious problems

Over the years, I’ve seen a few fixes a lot of homeowners tend to ignore that lead to bigger problems later. Some of the fixes are easier and less expensive than others, but every one of them will save you money. Cracked or crumbling grout

I don’t care if it’s in your shower, on the bathroom floor or in the kitchen: cracked grout or grout that is starting to crumble lets water and moisture get in behind tiles. The moisture can reach the subfloor. That means pulling up the tiles and going down to the subfloor and studs to get rid of any mould and water-damaged or rotted wood. If your kitchen backsplash or tiles on a bathroom wall are affected, you’ll need to get rid of the wallboard behind the tile too.

As soon as grout starts to fail, call the contractor who installed your tiles and find out exactly how your tiles were installed.

Crumbling mortar

The mortar between exterior bricks needs maintenance. Crumbling mortar can cause bricks to come loose, causing a safety hazard. Water can get behind the bricks, possibly damaging wood framing and sheathing, and leading to complications such as mould and poor indoor air quality.

The fix for crumbling mortar is called pointing, or tuck-pointing. That means scraping out the old mortar and replacing it. The cost of tuckpointing is labour, not materials, so the longer you wait, the tougher, and more expensive, the job is.

Bad windows

It’s not an easy fix and it’s definitely not cheap, but replacing bad windows is necessary. Bad windows lead to major heating and cooling losses, which you pay for every month. Leaks

Water stains on walls or ceilings must be addressed immediately. The stains mean water is penetrating the interior structure of your home. Moisture boosts the chance that mould will grow, and once you’ve got mould, you’ve got a serious problem.

Flickering lights

They usually signal bigger, more dangerous electrical trouble and potential fire hazards, such as faulty wiring and short circuits. If you have flickering lights in your home call a licensed electrical contractor. It could save your home and your life.