What are some things you proactively replace around the house? (instead of waiting for them to fail before you replace them)
Some things I thought of:
1. Garage door springs
2. Hoses for washing machine & toilets
3. Garbage disposal
4. Water heater anode rod
how about dishwashers and clothes washers? What part inside them is most likely to fail and cause a big mess?
things you proactively replace around the house
- Thread starter tonycarguy
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Batteries in our smoke detectors for one....
As for clothes washers...I think the biggest issue is one or both of supply hoses....although in all my years on this earth, I have never...ever had a supply hose fail.
I haven't replaced any of those proactively. The garage door springs started to get saggy, so I replaced those.
There really aren't any wear items in the dishwasher or clothes washer, except possibly a belt. Our washer, though is direct-drive. I replaced the coupler in it when I had everything apart to dislodge a sock from the drain pump, but I'm not sure I'd call that a "proactive" replacement. I've replaced the heater element and the two thermal switches in the clothes dryer, but not before they failed.
We did the roof earlier this year, and I guess you could call that "proactive" because it didn't fail yet. But the insurance company bought the whole roof after the April 16th tornado, so that was a no-brainer.
The one thing we're planning on replacing, hopefully before it is needed, is the A/C compressor outside, and possibly the condenser up in the attic if also required. The compressor is original to the house, a 1993 model contractor special (Goodman). It's still running strong, even in oppressivly humid North Carolina summers, but we're budgeting for its replacement now, more for financial reasons than anything else.
I think you might want to specify what you mean by "proactive". Some will read that as routine and scheduled maintenance, like smoke/CO detector batteries and HVAC filters, and some will read it as watching something for signs of failure, and getting it done before it bursts.
If you periodically lubricate garage door springs, they will last a lot longer. WD40 AND spray white grease.
Weatherstripping. It rots and wears out.
How about the water heater tank? Do you replace it or wait until it springs a leak? Mine dates to the mid 80s and so would be on a proactive replacement list I guess.
I swap out supply hoses every 5 years. If I'm going to be replacing one faucet washer, I typically just go ahead and replace both.
I live in an old house, so I spend much more time doing reactive repairs than proactive maintenance. Usually, when I'm fixing something, I'll uncover a dozen other problems or things that were never done right to begin with.
I had a run capacitor fail in one of our AC units recently. In the process of replacing that capacitor I discovered the only ones I could buy as a non-tradesperson were cheap imports. I then ordered good quality ones for both that unit and the other one on the house. I should do the same for the contactors but have not gotten around to it.
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
...like smoke/CO detector batteries ..
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
How about the water heater tank? Do you replace it or wait until it springs a leak? Mine dates to the mid 80s and so would be on a proactive replacement list I guess.
Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
...like smoke/CO detector batteries ..
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Other than that, I really do NOT do much pre-failure replacement of things around the house. Most things don't fail so suddenly and catastrophically that you can't just wait for it to happen and then replace whatever it is.
Yard Plants that have diseases. I do not wait till they die or transmit to its neighboring plants.
Did the boiler, hoping for efficiency gains.
Stupid thing is so picky though it shuts off at the slightest amount of grime inside. So am spending more on cleaning it.
Have done some windows, too, same reason: efficiency.
Ran the well dry with our top loading washing machine, so got a front loader. This could be considered "fixing a problem".
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: Corvette Owner
If you periodically lubricate garage door springs, they will last a lot longer. WD40 AND spray white grease.
My idea was to come up with a list of things that, if they fail, would cause tremendous inconvenience or significant damage to the house. Things like furnance filters aren't on my list for that reason.
I always replace my garage springs proactively because I don't want to be stranded at an inopportune time.
But the smoke detector suggestion is good, I didn't think of that.
Originally Posted By: TallPaul
How about the water heater tank? Do you replace it or wait until it springs a leak? Mine dates to the mid 80s and so would be on a proactive replacement list I guess.
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