Seattle Home Maintenance: Repair or Replace?
Maintenance and repair of your home protects your single greatest investment and makes your home a more comfortable, enjoyable place to live. But even homeowners that take good of their homes with regular maintenance can find themselves facing a tough decision: When does it make sense to repair and when does it make more sense to replace?
It would be nice if there were a simple formula that you could use to determine when to repair something in your Seattle-area home and when you should bite the bullet and replace it. Part of the reason that there’s no formula is that there can be several factors that influence that decision. Let’s look at a few.
Financial factors: The first factor that comes to mind for most of us is the financial impact that repairing or replacing will have. Repairing is often less expensive than replacing something—at least initially. Some things do wear out, however. Water heaters, appliances, roofs, floors, and HVAC systems will all wear out over time. At some point the cost to repeatedly repair an item can actually exceed the cost to replace it. If you have to do major repairs to your furnace for several years in a row—it’s probably time to replace it. Plus, you may enjoy energy savings that will help offset the initial cash outlay.
Comfort factors: Sometimes repairing part of your home still doesn’t give you the comfort you want. Will you be happy with windows that work—but don’t work well? New windows that keep out heat and cold will make you more comfortable (and will reduce your heating/cooling bills as well). A water heater that heats—but takes forever to deliver hot water and uses a lot of energy is no great bargain.
Resale factors: You may not be thinking of selling your home anytime soon. But by periodically upgrading certain features in your home, you’ll improve your chances of selling when it’s time—and you get to enjoy the benefits in the meantime.
Safety factors: There are times when the biggest concern isn’t what something will cost, but whether your family’s safety is at stake. Replacing an older roof with new fire-resistant materials protects your family—and it just may lower your insurance rates at the same time.
There may be no magic formula for determining when to replace rather than repair. And sometimes repairing is the right choice.
Give us a call at 206-824-8001 or shoot us a note. We’ll be happy to help you think it through.