It easy to spot many home problems

Most problems around your house take time to grow and give us signs if we pay attention. Walk around your house from time to time and see if anything has changed. You do not have to be a home expert to spot a large problem developing. What look different? Has the color of your roof or siding changed or does is vary from front to back? Is dirt or lint accumulating around HVAC components? Do you smell something funny in the laundry room or basement? Do the larger components and appliances look the same as last time you walked by? In the photo below, the brown 'growth' on top of the gray color water heater shows it is time to call a plumber - this water heater is actively rusting through and oozing but has not leaked to the floor and still delivers ample hot water. If we had waited for the water heater to fail and not checked and caught this concern at this stage, the repair would have been much more than replacement of a water heater.