Maintaining your house can be a recurrent pain: it seems relentless and taxing. One day it's a leaky faucet that needs replacement; the next month it's your entire roof.
The Guardian reports how many Americans feel stressed about the cost of repairs and the price of home ownership in general. Some people the newspaper spoke to reported spending 50 percent of their necessary spending on housing costs.
Finding reliable roof repair services or sustainable plumbing can be reassuring, but the process involves considerable research and time. Moreover, unprecedented expenses are catching people unaware with alarming frequency in a climate-change-impacted world.
Home maintenance seems like another thing to tackle in a stressed daily routine. It rears its head amid other stressors, like work and personal relationships, complicating them. What if we said it is possible to find fulfillment in these tiring and cumbersome tasks?
Since there's no way around avoiding home maintenance (unless you delegate it to a third party), it is worthwhile figuring out how to achieve it with lower stress.
1. Build a Support System to Deal With Maintenance Together
A massive portion of the stress involved with home maintenance stems from having to do it alone. Seemingly trivial issues, such as weeds in the garden or a fused electric bulb, can snowball into a dishevelled lawn and inadequate lighting for the household. It is undoubtedly daunting for a homeowner to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, especially when they also have tiring work and personal commitments.
In contrast, dealing with maintenance as a team can make it seem much easier to tackle. For example, you could delegate smaller tasks, such as examining the light fixtures and taps monthly, to your teenage children. Partners can collaborate to arrange professional inspections and consultations for issues like roof damage and mold.
Verywell Mind highlights that the unequal distribution of housework is a prime reason for marital discord. It suggests building and following a timetable for home-related chores, keeping it open to reevaluation based on individual priorities.
That said, some requirements, such as roof-related issues, are best handled on priority since they can escalate quickly. For example, states like Colorado can have variable weather throughout the year, with mild temperatures dropping to bring snowstorms and cold spells. According to Reliable Roofing & Restoration Inc., roofs with brown water stains and the presence of mildew should not be left unaddressed.
In that sense, professional expertise can be an excellent support system. Requesting a free consultation and estimate for repairs can give you more planning time and facilitate financing options.
2. Integrate Your Interests With Home Maintenance Requirements
The time that repairs take away from your life makes them seem draining. People have little time on their hands to devote to interests or even relaxation, which makes “necessary” tasks feel like a burden. However, the situation may differ if you can combine your passions with stuff you have committed to doing.
For example, imagine a situation when your house requires a fresh coat of paint, decluttering the store room, and sorting out faulty electrical wiring. Instead of approaching all these tasks as one overwhelming bundle, you can allocate them based on the interests and expertise areas of various family members.
Someone might be keen to take on the painting as a passion project—they can at least oversee a professional contractor. Likewise, you can seek help from friends or neighbours to manage the decluttering. A garage sale appeals to the community for its range of items available at cheap prices.
Moreover, many Americans find DIY projects fulfilling and de-stressing. They are also cost-effective. A 2025 Hippo survey found that 55 per cent of homeowners intend to take on more DIY home maintenance projects.
Driving this trend are unexpected repairs that bear heavily on the budget, prompting homeowners to think creatively. Herein lies the scope to get maintenance work done and also find creative satisfaction that your wallet will love.
3. Experience the Huge Impact of Small Steps
Perhaps the greatest fulfillment comes from witnessing the result of small actions you have taken over time to keep your house in order.
Think of the respite you feel when you return from work to an uncluttered house that smells good. (Tough for parents of newborns, but you get the idea.) Similarly, consider the relief you will feel if a hailstorm hits your area and your weatherproof roofing and flooring can weather it without substantial damage. The feeling of peace can be delightful.
It follows that viewing home repairs through the lens of time can help you find them more purposeful. Redecoration and upholstery upheaval may seem unnecessary at a specific time, but your commitment to caring for your house reaps results in time.
One can experience this by sharing ideas and exchanging stories with others in the same situation. Community meetings and neighborhood catchups can be an excellent avenue to do this. Sharing also alleviates the sense of loneliness that comes from dealing with a burdensome task alone.
Being a homeowner in present-day America is not hunky dory: it has significant stress and anxiety attached to it. Like people and careers, homes require care and attention, or they start to disintegrate at the seams. Rewiring our approach to these routine tasks can help us develop a more resilient mindset about unavoidable expenses and efforts.
