How much should you save for home maintenance each year?

We get to do a lot of quotes for home owners or landlords each week, and often people are surprised about the costs for doing major maintenance or big repairs. Wages and materials have all gone up — some of the costs have doubled in the last two years.

So when a house owner doesn’t have the cash to do the necessary repairs, it means they have not been putting money aside.

As the average house price is over a million, then most likely it is your biggest asset. Not maintaining it means the value will not be going up as fast as a well maintained home — or it may even go down.

Spending money on maintenance will prevent problems getting bigger. If little problems get bigger, you will reach a point of no return and only a costly replacement or major renovation will do the job. Only about 40% of houses are in good shape.

So how much should you save each year?

• With a brand new house you should be safe not setting anything aside for about 5 years.
• After 5 years, try to set aside $3,000 a year.
• After 15 years, a minimum of $5,000 per year will get you safely through major repairs and maintenance.
• With an older or bigger house you should probably consider going a bit higher, like $8,000 or even $10,000.

Another way of maintaining your home would be DIY. This way you will save about 40% on cash, but you’ll lose out on free time.

Typical lifespans

• Corrugated roofing, without maintenance40 years
• Corrugated roofing, with maintenance60 years
• Exterior paint, new10 years
• Exterior paint, repainted5–10 years
• Gutters20 years
• Timber cladding, with maintenance40 years
• Timber cladding, no maintenance20–30 years
• Decking15 years
• Decking, maintained20–25 years
• Substructure30 years
• Fencing, no maintenance15 years
• Fencing, maintained20–25 years