How to build a maintenance schedule for a rural property

A rural block is a lovely thing to own and it is also a lot more to look after than a house on a normal suburban allotment, because you have got fences, sheds, gates, a garden that wants to take over, and usually a water system of some description, and none of it puts its hand up until it has already become a problem. The fix isn't working harder, it is having a list and a rhythm, so here's how I'd put one together.

Start by walking the place with a notebook

Before you can schedule anything you need to know what you've actually got, so walk the whole property and write down every single thing that will need looking after at some point. Group it as you go, because a flat list of forty items is useless and five groups of eight is something you can work with. The house, the garden, the water, the fences and gates, and the sheds and outbuildings is a sensible split for most places, and it will be obvious pretty quickly which group is the one that has been quietly neglected.

Write down the state of each thing while you're there, not just its name, because in six months you will not remember which gate was the one that was starting to drop.

Sort the jobs by season, not by urgency

Some jobs can only sensibly be done at certain times of year, and trying to do them out of season is how people end up doing them badly or not at all. Roughly speaking:

• Spring. Clear fallen branches, get the garden beds ready, flush the tanks, and check that every irrigation line and sprinkler still does what it did last year before you need it to.
• Summer. Fuel reduction is the job. Grass down, litter cleared away from the house and sheds, and your own firefighting gear checked over while there's still time to fix it.
• Autumn. Gutters, because that is when the leaves come down, and mulching the garden before the cold sets in.
• Winter. Roof and flashings, draughts around doors and windows, and anything with a heater or a flue in it.

Spreading them across the year is the entire point. Four manageable afternoons beats one grim weekend where you do half of it and give up.

Then put a short monthly check underneath it

The seasonal list catches the big stuff and the monthly one catches the things that go wrong quietly. Keep it short enough that it actually gets done, something like testing the smoke alarms, having a look at the seals around doors and windows, checking for damp or mould anywhere it shouldn't be, and walking the boundary fence to spot a loose post or a gap before an animal finds it first.

Add a shed pass to that. Anything with a hinge, a latch or a moving part gets a squirt of penetrating lubricant, and anything with an edge on it gets looked at, because a seized gate bolt in the middle of a wet winter is a genuinely annoying way to spend an afternoon.

Put it somewhere you will look at it

A notebook, a spreadsheet, a calendar on the fridge, a reminder on your phone, it genuinely does not matter which one you pick as long as you keep using it. The system that works is the one you will still be using in a year, and for most people that is the simplest one they can get away with.

Keep a bit of money aside for the surprises

Rural properties are unpredictable in a way that a schedule cannot fix. A wind event drops a limb across a fence, a pump packs it in, something in the shed roof lets go. Having a small amount set aside for exactly that turns a crisis into an errand, and that is worth more than any tool on this list.

And know which jobs aren't yours

Plenty of this is straightforward and you'll pick it up as you go. Electrical work, gas work and dropping a big limb near a building are not on that list, and getting somebody licensed in for those is not an admission of anything. We can sort you out with the materials, the fixings and the advice for the rest of it, and we'll tell you honestly when a job is one to hand over.

Shop related products

• GSA All Purpose Silicone, Clear. For the gaps around doors and windows on the winter list.
• Dunnings Galvanised Fence Rail Saddle. For the rail that has worked loose.
• Dunnings 140 x 35 x 3mm Galvanised Fence Plate. Straightens up a sagging post fixing.
• Brunnings Glyphosate 360 Weed Killer Concentrate 1L. For keeping fence lines and shed surrounds clear.
• Katana 18V Cordless Line Trimmer. The summer job, without dragging a cord around.

Did you know we also keep gutter scoops and gutter cleaners, gutter guard by the roll, step and extension ladders, Boston penetrating lubricant for hinges and latches, and first aid kits in store. Those aren't all on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf.

More from us

• Flyscreen replacement and repair, and you can price your own screens first with the flyscreen quoter.
• Local delivery, for the heavy gear that was never going to fit in the car.
• 3 maintenance checks every new homeowner should do first
• What you need to know before moving to a country town

Come in and have a yak if you're building your first list and you're not sure what belongs on it. I'm still adding things to mine, usually the week after I find out the hard way that they should have been on it already.

Cheers,
Candeece

Stay Connected

Follow our Facebook Page: Strathalbyn H Hardware on Facebook