Yearly Home Maintenance: What Your House Actually Needs

The Durkan Hawks Bay Home Owner Guide tells you everything you need to keep the house in good order — but it's twenty-two pages long, and the maintenance jobs are scattered across sections about leaks, drying out, appliances and HomeBond. It's easy to read it once on move-in day and never find the important bits again.

So here they are, pulled out and sorted by how often each one is actually due. Nothing here is new advice — it all comes straight from the builder's guide. It's just in an order you can work through.

At a glance

Once a year

Heat pump service

The big one. All heat source pumps should be serviced by a qualified person once a year, or as advised in the manufacturer's manual that came with your pack.

Two things worth knowing beyond the booking itself:

• Don't turn the heat pump off. The guide is emphatic about this — "Do not turn off the heat pump for any reason." It should only be switched off by a qualified person during the annual service.
• Don't dry clothes on or near a radiator, and never block the air vents. Heat-producing appliances need a permanent supply of external air through those vents.

MEV system and filter service

The Mechanical Electrical Ventilation fan is in the attic, and it needs the same annual visit from a qualified person — unit and filter together.

The MEV comes preset and commissioned, and the guide asks homeowners not to adjust the settings. If they're interfered with and the unit plays up afterwards, a callout charge applies.

Just as importantly: leave it running at all times. Turning it off can lead to a build-up of condensation and mould in the house.

Kitchen extractor charcoal filter

This one's yours rather than a tradesman's — the guide simply says the extractor's charcoal filter must be changed annually by the home owner.

Every three years

Glycol change

The liquid in the heat pump system — glycol — should be changed every 3 years by a qualified person. Handily, the guide notes this can be done during the annual service, so it's worth flagging to whoever services the pump when the three years are up rather than booking a separate visit.

Twice a year

Gutters

The guide calls gutters "one of the most important maintenance items." They should be kept clean and clear of debris about twice a year, particularly at the start of autumn and the start of the year — autumn before the leaves come down in earnest, and again in the new year after the winter has filled them.

Windows

Inspect windows at least twice annually, paying particular attention to the lower areas, the glazing beads and the cill.

While you're at it:

• Washing: warm water and liquid detergent, changing the water frequently, then rinse thoroughly with clean water.
• Algae or mould: dirt building up on joinery encourages mould growth. Treat affected areas with one part household bleach to two parts water, leave it 20 minutes to act, then wash off with cold water and a stiff nylon brush. This matters most on the faces of the house that get the cold and the damp.

Regularly, all year round

Test the smoke alarms and heat detectors

There's a smoke alarm in every room except the bathroom and ensuite, and a heat detector in the kitchen and in the attic. The guide says it's essential you test them regularly: push the test button and the alarm should sound. If it doesn't — or if it starts periodically beeping at you — the batteries need changing. They also need to be kept clean and free of dust.

Keep the drains clear

Maintenance of the drains inside your boundary is your responsibility, and a callout to clear a blockage you caused is chargeable. So:

• No grease or food waste down the kitchen sink — it congeals and blocks the foul drain.
• No baby wipes or nappies down the toilet — they expand and block the waste pipe.
• Keep external drain covers clear so they don't block up.
• Run the tap in a basin, bath or shower that hasn't been used in a while for a few minutes if you notice a foul smell. That refills the waste trap and stops drain odours coming into the house.

Clear the Acco channel

The drainage channel outside your front door should be cleared regularly — it's easy to forget because you step over it every day.

Reseal the shower silicone

The silicone seal around the showers needs resealing by the homeowner on a regular basis. Kitchen work surfaces get the same treatment: keep them free of moisture and reseal as required.

Bleed the radiators when they need it

If the heating's on and a radiator is cool at the top, that's likely an air lock — common in newly commissioned systems. Attach a radiator key to the valve and open it carefully, just enough to hear the hiss of escaping air. Hold a cloth to catch the water, and when water comes out instead of air, close the valve. Radiator keys are a couple of euro in any DIY or hardware shop.

Things worth doing once — and not forgetting

• Register your appliances. All appliances must be registered by the homeowner after move-in to avail of the manufacturer's warranty. If you haven't done it, it's the highest-value ten minutes on this page.
• Find your stopcocks before you need them. There are three: the mains water supply in the footpath in front of the house, the brass stopcock under the kitchen sink, and the hot and cold valves in the hot press (all clearly marked). If you ever suspect a leak, turning off all three drains the system and stops the damage getting worse.
• Check the 5mm gap under your internal doors. The MEV needs a minimum 5mm gap under every internal door for consistent airflow. If flooring or carpet has been fitted since and that gap is gone, your warranty for anything moisture- or condensation-related is void — which makes this one worth measuring rather than assuming.
• Re-check appliance hose connections a day or two after connecting anything in the kitchen or utility room. Dripping connections cause serious damage, and they don't always show up immediately.

A few practical tips

• Book the heat pump and MEV service together. Both are annual, both need a qualified person, and pairing them means one visit and one callout instead of two. Ask about the glycol at the same time — you'll want it done every third year anyway.
• Pick a fixed month and stick to it. The annual jobs don't care which month, only that twelve months don't quietly become twenty. Tying the service to something you already remember — the anniversary of your move-in, say — beats trying to recall when you last did it.
• Do the gutters and the windows on the same afternoon. Both are twice-yearly, both want doing around the start of autumn, and you're up a ladder for one of them regardless.
• Before drilling anything, check for concealed pipes and cables with a detector — the guide is explicit about this for walls, floors and ceilings. Our outer walls are ICF, which brings its own complication when you're hunting for something solid to screw into: see Finding the Fixing Points in Your ICF Walls.
• Keep external doors firmly closed in high winds to stop them bowing or twisting — and note the builder won't be held responsible for storm damage.
• Don't use bleach blocks in the toilet cisterns. They disintegrate, deform the diaphragm, and eventually kill the cistern.
• Careful who you let at the heat pump or the MEV. If a homeowner — directly or through a tradesman — interferes with the mechanical or electrical equipment in the house, the 12-month maintenance warranty may be null and void. Within that first year, report faults to customer@hawksbay.ie rather than getting someone in yourself.

If your house is still new

Some things that look like faults in the first year are just the house drying out, and the guide lists them as normal settlement rather than defects: doors and windows temporarily sticking, sealant around baths and shower trays shrinking, small cracks in plasterwork. Internal doors are natural timber and will expand slightly until the heating has been on a while — it settles down within a few weeks of occupation.

The one active instruction during this period: keep the heating as low as possible for at least six months to prevent the paintwork cracking.

Compiled from the Durkan Hawks Bay Home Owner Guide, which is available in full in the Knowledge section — always check the guide and your own manufacturer's manuals for the last word, as models and specifications can vary house to house. If you spot anything outdated here, let a committee member know so we can update this page.