Being a homeowner comes with a lot of responsibility. Whether it’s fixing a leaky faucet, cleaning your showerhead, or issues with hard water, we wanted to know how well millennials are maintaining their homes. In order to find out, we surveyed more than 1,000 millennials aged 25-40 to test their knowledge and find out if the thought or costs of these tasks deter them from buying a house.
Millennial Home Maintenance Tasks
When it comes to household tasks, 60% of millennials said they don’t know how to fix a leaky faucet. Other bathroom maintenance seems to be tricky as well with 53% unable to caulk tile, 29% not knowing how to clean a showerhead and 8% unsure how to manually flush a toilet. However, only 6% of millennials reported not knowing how to unclog a toilet.
Other home maintenance millennials are unsure of? 52% don’t know how to fix a garbage disposal and 49% are unsure of how to clean a dishwasher filter. Other filters around the home can be tricky as well with 43% unable to replace a refrigerator water filter and 22% not knowing how to replace an air filter.
Millennial Home Maintenance Routines
Knowing how to complete home maintenance is one thing, but doing it is another. 36% of millennials say they never clean their showerhead while 1 in 4 say they clean/unclog their drains every six months. In the kitchen, 27% say they clean their oven every six months. It may be no surprise 43% say they never clean their dishwasher filter and 20% never replace their refrigerator water filter. Sure, it might seem like a minor detail but neglecting to change a water filter can cause headaches down the road. Not only can hard water clog pipes, but it can also irritate your skin and damage your appliances overtime. Of course, millennials wouldn’t have to worry about needing a reminder on when to change water filters if they had a water softener.
Millennial Home Maintenance Tools
In order to complete home maintenance, it’s important to have the right tools. According to respondents, many millennials seem to have basic tools lying around the house. 97% say they own a screwdriver, 95% own a hammer and 94% own a measuring tape. Common tools that millennials don’t own include a stud finder (54%), a ladder (nearly 1 in 3), and a level (27%).
Additionally, 1 in 10 respondents didn’t know the difference between a flat-head and Phillips-head screwdriver.
Home Maintenance Advice
Many people seek advice in different ways, for millennials it’s not surprising the majority turn to the internet. 86% of respondents get home maintenance advice from Google with 85% looking for answers on YouTube. It also never hurts to ask someone close to you, as 62% say they go to their parents for advice. For some millennials, they choose to go straight to the source as 42% contact a professional for advice.
When it comes to getting it done, 59% of millennials ask a friend or significant other to help. 48% outsource professional help and 46% rely on their parents. 1 in 3 also ask their roommates.
Millennial Home Maintenance Budgets
Budgets can be critical when buying and owning a home. In fact, 45% of millennials who rent say the thought of home maintenance expenses deter them from buying a home. 76% of those that own don’t have a budget for home maintenance. Among those with a budget, the average is $2,869. However, not everyone seems to spend that much, as 57% of millennials say they spend less than $500 on home maintenance every year.
Methodology
For this report, we surveyed 1,100 self-reporting millennials across the country in December 2021. 50% were female and 50% were male with an average age of 32. Among respondents, 48% were homeowners, 48% were renters and 4% had other types of living situations.
Media Inquires
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Puronics, Incorporated
