Whether you’re doing a few little repairs or planning a major renovation, there’s another job you should get on right away. Start a home repair scrapbook.
This will provide great memories years from now, and you can show friends how that beautiful family room used to look, but it’s also a practical tool.
You can refer to it for tips on how to hook up that 3-way switch you finally figured out three years ago, reminders about everything from paint colors to where the cleanout is for the drain, and help for future budgeting.
And someday, prospective buyers may want to know how much the house has been improved.
Use a three-ringed binder or folder, which allows you to add pages, and reorganize as necessary.
Here are some ideas to help you start your own scrapbook.
* Paint chips and wallpaper samples.
* Photographs of wall framing with wiring and plumbing locations.
* Photographs of key improvements, such as structural strengthening or new wiring and plumbing, which may be of interest to prospective buyers.
* Notes on complex jobs you may have to do again.
* Ideas from magazines and product brochures.
* Before and after photographs (including before and after photographs of you and your fellow workers.)
* Part and model numbers (what size was that washer, anyway?)
* Good sources for supplies.
* Good contractors.
* Tips — like this one.
* To do lists (Save the old ones; it’s always interesting to look back a few years later and see what did and didn’t get done.)
* Costs of renovations/repairs.
* Notes on where you put that dang bolt which is the only one that will fit that old bedframe… and Aunt Martha’s coming over tonight, and…