Home Maintenance What To Do First
by Peter Last
Common Sense Factor: Home Maintenance – What To Do First is a practical decision guide designed to help homeowners understand their homes before problems arise. Rather than telling you how to fix everything, this guide focuses on awareness—what to look for, what matters most, and how to make informed decisions without panic or pressure.
By helping you slow down, observe, and prioritize, What To Do First empowers you to prevent small issues from becoming costly ones, saving time, money, and unnecessary stress. It’s not a technical manual or a sales pitch—it’s a common-sense approach to maintaining your home with clarity and confidence.
🏠 Worried about maintaining your home but don’t have a big budget—or a background in repairs?
This is not a technical manual. It’s a decision-making guide for homeowners who want to prevent expensive mistakes.
You’re not alone. And the good news? You don’t need piles of cash, an engineering degree, or a contractor’s license to keep your home running the way it should.
Your house is a living, breathing system. It expands, contracts, sweats, freezes, vents, drains, and fights the weather 24/7. Inside the home are the parts most homeowners only notice when they break—toilets, faucets, filters, vents, switches, pumps, and the rest of the unsung heroes no one ever teaches you about.
That’s exactly why Home Maintenance: What To Do First exists.
This guide was written for everyday homeowners who want to stay ahead of problems, avoid surprise repair bills, and to understand how their home actually works. Whether you want to DIY to save money—or you’re buying a home and don’t want to walk into a money pit—this book gives you the no-nonsense truth you wish someone had told you sooner.
🔨 “I wasn’t born knowing any of this. Most tradesmen weren’t.”
After decades in hardware, plumbing supply, home systems, and hands-on trades work, Peter Last has learned exactly what fails, why it fails, and how a little preventive work can save you thousands. This book cuts out the noise and gives you straight common-sense steps to keep your home running properly—without guesswork or 2 a.m. panic-Google.
📘 Inside You’ll Learn How To:
✔️ Plan and prioritize your home maintenance
✔️ Build a must-have inventory of parts every homeowner should keep stocked
✔️ Spot plumbing issues before they become catastrophes
✔️ Handle simple patching, painting, and wall repairs
✔️ Maintain your hot-water tank, furnace, and AC the right way
✔️ Keep your sump pump from betraying you during a storm
✔️ Perform electrical checks safely and confidently
✔️ Improve ventilation and airflow in key areas
✔️ Protect your home with exterior maintenance that matters
✔️ Know what to fix yourself—and what you should never DIY
💡 Why This Book Is Different?
Instead of overwhelming you with complex jargon or scare tactics, this guide gives you:
Real-trade solutions you can use immediately
Clear breakdowns of what to check, and when
Simple explanations that make your home make sense
Tradesman tips that save you money, stress, and emergency repair calls
Whether you’re a brand-new homeowner—or someone finally taking control instead of letting the house call the shots—this guide gives you the confidence and know-how to do things right the first time.
🔧 Your home doesn’t have to be a mystery.
Start smart.
Save money.
Avoid the “I should’ve known better” moments.
👉 Get your copy of Home Maintenance: What To Do First and take charge of your home with confidence and common sense.
“A clear, well-organized guide that breaks complex home systems into manageable steps, helping homeowners approach maintenance with confidence and clarity.”
Readers’ Favorite
Common Sense Factor is an education-first publishing initiative offering clear, practical guides that help people slow down, understand what matters, and make confident decisions in everyday life.
Peter Last is the founder of Common Sense Factor Book Publishing and the author behind the Common Sense Factor collection, including the Wisdom Chronicles and What To Do First guides. An author, health coach, and hypnotherapist, Peter’s work is rooted in lived experience rather than theory. His journey began through personal struggle, where he discovered that the most meaningful lessons often emerge not from perfection, but from the quiet, imperfect moments we tend to overlook. Peter believes that being human means being unfinished—and that growth comes from awareness, not self-judgment. Inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi, where broken pottery is repaired with gold, his work encourages readers to see challenges as places where strength, clarity, and understanding can form. Rather than hiding flaws, Common Sense Factor invites people to learn from them. Across all of his books—whether focused on personal insight or practical responsibilities like home maintenance—Peter’s mission remains the same: to make wisdom easy to understand, easy to apply, and grounded in common sense. These books are not about having all the answers; they are tools to help readers ask better questions, build confidence, and respond to life with steadiness and clarity. Peter’s guiding philosophy is simple: you don’t need to be perfect to move forward—you just need to start. As he often says, “Take what resonates and leave the rest. Real wisdom begins when you discover what fits your path.”
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