In this day and age, we are all familiar with the sales techniques that are used by cold callers, advertisers and criminals to get us to part with our money. We are constantly bombarded with sales messages.

I always find it surprise that in this day and age, people are so willing to accept a sales pitch at face value when it involves their property.

Many of us lead busy lives and finding time to carry out regular maintenance on our properties is a challenge. If you are self-isolating at home, you may find yourself with time on your hands. Why not use this as an opportunity, particularly as the weather is improving, to give your home some TLC. Here are five simple activities that you could do, which will save you money and protect your property.

In normal circumstances, water ingress is a slow seeping build up of dampness over a long period of time and for that reason often continues, unnoticed, until there is a rot outbreak or structural failure.

High winds and driving rain will release a sudden deluge of wet that is immediately obvious. This has the benefit of alerting the property owner of a problem and speeding the remedial work.

Lead flashings, gutters and valleys are all vulnerable areas.

Some properties have change forced upon them. Properties that have been around a long time, often have to deal with external changes. This is particularly the case in towns and villages.

Lightning never strikes twice in the same spot – or does it.? You or in this instance, your building maybe more at risk than you think. With climate change experts predicting stormier weather in the future, the odds may be shortening!

Technical challenges come in all shapes and sizes. They are not restricted to castles and grand palaces, they can appear in modest cottages. A small renovation project grew arms and legs this week, when the removal of some cement harling from the stonework of their small cottage revealed a catalogue of horrors.