An Ounce of Maintenance is Worth a Pound of Cure.

What a sad situation! This concrete deck overlay was installed in 2000. It has only been 9 years and look at what the lack of maintenance has done to it.

All they needed to do was to re-seal it every 2-4 years and check on potential water penetration zones each year, and this deck would have lasted them a lifetime. But instead, 9 years later, these homeowners had to replace the entire deck. The cost to re due the overlay was over $16,000. To re-seal the deck every 2-4 years, it would have cost $2,000. Now that maintenance cost may even seem like a lot to spend but you have to remember that the deck is over 1500 square feet......HUGE! No matter what you do to it, it is going to cost money.

You can see in these pictures how over just a short amount of time without care, the deck formed small hairline cracks, which allowed water to seep in. Once the weather turned cold and that water turned to ice, well we all know what ice can do to concrete with cracks in it.

Over just one season, those cracks allowed enough water and ice to penetrate the thin concrete surface and started a domino effect of problems. Once you have one season of water and ice, there is no turning back. The deck basically has a date with deterioration and disaster.

So if you are wondering if you have enough money to cover repairs like this, here are some recommendations for those that read this and are freakin' out about their homes and the lack of maintenance that they have received.

1. Remember, maintenance is different from warranty. Warranties can be void if the owner does not maintain the equipment or product properly. Home Owners don't quite understand this and then when they call in a warranty request, they get shocked when they find out the warranty is void due to a lack of maintenance.

2. Contact your general contractor. Have him compile a list of trade contractors and suppliers that worked on your home.

3. Once you have the list, call each one and ask for maintenance instructions. Compile all the information in a maintenance manual. Start then scheduling recommended maintenance.

4. If you didn't hire a general contractor, then make the calls yourself. Call all suppliers and laborers. If they don't have the answers, then another great resource is the Internet. Do google searches, or you can visit the National Home Builders website, there they have information specifically for those that are trying to keep up on their home.

Keeping up on maintenance is so crucial to the longevity of any project. Here is one more insight. When pricing out a project, make sure and look at the long term cost of maintaining the equipment or product being installed. Doing this can help you factor in long term costs and determine which product or equipment is right for you.