13 October . 2015
5 Must-do's When Moving Into a New Home
Moving is exciting, but it’s also work. Here are 5 tips to make your transition a happy one.
1. Change the locks. You really don’t know who else has keys to your home, so changing the locks ensures you’re the only person who has access. Install new deadbolts yourself, or call a locksmith. Here’s a helpful hint, if you supply the new locks to the locksmith, it’s typically less expensive as you’re only paying for the labor to install.
2. Check for plumbing leaks. Your home inspector should do this for you before closing, but it never hurts to double-check the following places:
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a. Check the pressure relief valve on the hot water tank by removing the drain pipe and listen fora hissing sound, this means its leaking.
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b. Remove the top off the tank to your toilet and listen closely for hissing.
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c. Check your outside hose bibs for any leaks, specifically with hoses, taps and drip irrigation systems.
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d. Check the shower head for leaks
3. Steam clean carpets. Do this before you move your furniture in, and your new home will be off to a fresh start. You can pay a professional carpet cleaning service or you can rent a steam cleaner from a local hardware or grocery store and do the work yourself to save some money.
4. Introduce your family to their new circuit breaker box and main water valve. It’s a good idea to figure out which fuses control what parts of your house and label them accordingly. This will take two people: One to stand in the room where the power is supposed to go off, the other to trip the fuses and yell, “Did that work? How about now?”
5. You’ll want to know how to turn off your main water valve if you have a plumbing emergency, or if you’re going out of town. Just locate the valve — it could be inside or outside your house — and turn the knob until it’s off. Test it by turning on any faucet in the house; no water should come out.