Whether you’re buying your first or fourth home, the prospect of settling into a new space is exciting. But once the keys are in your hands, you may find yourself stuck on what to do next. Do you unpack first? Change the locks? Update your mailing address with your credit card company?
While there’s no “right” answer (but please do change your locks ASAP), the house-closing day checklist below will help you prioritize what should be done sooner rather than later to help boost indoor air quality and maintain home cleanliness.
Since you likely don’t know the former tenants, plan to conduct a thorough sweep of the house. Wipe down all surfaces, scrub the floors and dust hard-to-reach places to literally get a fresh start. While you can absolutely do this with furniture in the house, an empty space will be easier to tackle. So if you have some time before the movers arrive, plan to make the most of it.
Even if your home is new construction, you may be surprised at how much construction dust and debris remain. A great place to start is vacuuming window tracks and inside cupboards and drawers.
While you’re familiarizing yourself with your new neighborhood and meeting the neighbors, don’t forget to spend some time getting to know your HVAC system, too. Check to see what size filter your system requires and swap in a new one right away. All Filtrete™ Air Filters work with the Filtrete™ Smart App, so whether you install a traditional air filter or our BluetoothⓇ-enabled Smart Air Filter, you can get reminders on your phone when it’s time for a replacement.
Grab a ladder and test every smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector in the house. Go ahead and swap out batteries on working alarms and detectors and replace the entire unit if they are defunct. Going forward, test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors monthly to help keep you and your family safe.
If you opted for a home inspection, you now have a handy guide for making updates to your home. Chances are, not everything on the report needed to be addressed before moving in. So even though these to-dos may not have been a priority at the time, you’ll want to make a plan to get them fixed.
And if you didn’t have an inspection, now is also an ideal time to make sure that everything is in working order. Consider having a professional check out your appliances so you can address any issues before they become a problem down the road.
Set yourself up for success and identify when routine home maintenance will be required. Whether you prefer a paper calendar or digital reminders, look ahead and write down when the:
A room air purifier can help maintain your indoor air quality long-term. And the Filtrete™ Smart Air Purifier will automatically jump into action when unwanted particles strike — think cooking a big meal or embarking on a construction project.