Home maintenance for Upper Arlington's older houses.

What I see in Upper Arlington homes

Every house is different, but the same few things come up again and again in Upper Arlington.

• Standard outside faucets with a shutoff valve inside.Older UA houses usually have a short spigot outside and a valve on the inside wall, often a stop and waste valve with a small bleeder cap. Winterizing means closing that valve, draining the line, and leaving the outside faucet open. Skipping it is how a pipe splits inside the wall.
• Shutoff valves that have not been turned in decades.Gate valves from the 1950s and 1960s seize. On the first visit I find the main, see whether it moves without forcing it, tag it, and note it for a plumber if it needs replacing. I do not force an old valve.
• Houses with no sump pump at all, and some with one added later.Many older basements drain to a floor drain rather than a pit. Where a pump was added during a finish or a waterproofing job, it is often tucked in a closet and forgotten. Either way, the water heater and any laundry on an upper floor get a leak sensor.
• Alarms past their replacement date.Smoke alarms are meant to be replaced every ten years and CO alarms every five to seven. Older houses tend to have a mix of ages. Every visit, each one gets tested and any past its date gets written down.

Serving Old Arlington south of Lane Avenue, the post war streets north toward Henderson Road, and the neighborhoods along Tremont, Zollinger, and Reed.