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Home maintenance checklist: what to do each season, month by month
A house asks for about thirty small jobs a year. Most take under an hour and almost none need a pro. This checklist puts them in the order the seasons bring them, with a monthly short list for the few that repeat.
How to use this checklist
Print it and keep it on the fridge, or keep the dates in a home maintenance log so you know when each job was last done. Do the monthly items on the first weekend of the month. Do the seasonal lists in the first weeks of the season, before the weather tests the house.
Climate changes the order. A house in Phoenix cares more about the air conditioner and the roof; a house in Boston cares about pipes, ice dams and the furnace. Skip what does not apply, and add what your house has taught you.
Every month
Ten minutes. Same weekend every month.
- Test every smoke and carbon monoxide alarm with the test button.
- Check the furnace or air handler filter. Replace it if it looks grey; at most every three months.
- Run water in any sink, shower or tub you rarely use, so the trap stays full and sewer gas stays out.
- Look under each sink and around the water heater for drips or stains.
- Clean the range hood filter and the dishwasher filter.
- Check the fire extinguisher gauge is in the green.
- Pour a cup of water down the floor drain in the basement and the garage.
Spring (March to May)
After the last hard freeze.
- Walk the outside. Look for peeling paint, cracked caulk, lifted shingles, loose gutters and downspouts that drain toward the foundation.
- Clean the gutters and make sure each downspout sends water at least four feet from the house.
- Have the air conditioner serviced before the first hot week; clean leaves and dirt off the outdoor unit.
- Turn the outdoor water back on and check each hose bib for a leak behind the wall.
- Check the sump pump: pour a bucket of water into the pit and watch it run and stop.
- Clear the dryer vent from the outside and make sure the flap opens.
- Inspect the roof from the ground with binoculars, and the attic for daylight or water marks.
- Reseal the deck or fence if water no longer beads on it.
- Check window screens and door sweeps; replace the weather stripping that tore over the winter.
- Test the GFCI outlets in the kitchen, bathrooms, garage and outside with the test and reset buttons.
Summer (June to August)
Heat, storms and the garden.
- Flush the water heater: drain a few gallons from the valve at the bottom to clear sediment.
- Check the attic ventilation and insulation; a hot attic shortens the life of the roof.
- Trim trees and shrubs away from the siding, the roof and the power line.
- Clean the refrigerator coils and the dryer lint path behind the machine.
- Grade soil so it slopes away from the foundation; fill low spots.
- Look at the driveway and walkways for cracks to seal before winter widens them.
- Check the washing machine hoses; replace rubber hoses older than five years with braided steel.
- Review your home inventory and add anything new; see the home inventory guide.
Fall (September to November)
The season that decides the winter. The full list is in the fall home maintenance checklist.
- Have the furnace or boiler serviced before the first cold night.
- Clean the gutters again after the leaves drop.
- Drain and shut off outdoor faucets; store hoses.
- Replace the batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and replace any alarm older than ten years.
- Seal gaps around windows, doors and where pipes enter the house.
- Have the chimney inspected and swept if you burn wood.
- Reverse ceiling fans to clockwise so warm air comes down.
- Clean the dryer vent all the way to the outside.
Winter (December to February)
Keep the heat in and the water moving.
- Keep the thermostat at 55°F or above when you travel, and open cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls during a deep freeze.
- Watch the roof edge for ice dams after a snow; rake the first few feet of snow off a low roof.
- Check the attic for frost or damp insulation, a sign of warm air leaking up.
- Test the sump pump and make sure its discharge line is not frozen shut.
- Keep snow and ice clear of the furnace exhaust, the dryer vent and the gas meter.
- Check the water heater for rust at the base and listen for rumbling, both signs it is near the end; see how long water heaters last.
- Plan the spring projects while the quotes are easy to get.
The yearly jobs that are easy to forget
- Replace smoke alarms at ten years and carbon monoxide alarms at the date printed on the back. Our guide on how often to replace smoke detectors has the dates.
- Have the dryer vent cleaned once a year, more if the run is long or the dryer takes two cycles.
- Flush the water heater and test its pressure relief valve once a year.
- Service the furnace and the air conditioner once a year each.
- Inspect the roof, the chimney and the septic system (pump a septic tank every three to five years).
- Replace the whole house water filter and the refrigerator filter on the schedule printed on them.
What it costs to skip
A furnace filter costs a few dollars; a furnace blower motor starved of air costs hundreds. A gutter cleaning is an hour; a foundation leak from an overflowing gutter is a weekend and a contractor. The list above is the cheap side of every one of those trades.
The habit that makes the list work is writing the date down. A house that has a record of when the filter, the alarms, the vent and the water heater were last done is a house where nothing is a surprise, and the record is worth real money to the next owner. Housemap keeps that record for you and emails you before each job is due.
Questions
How often should I do home maintenance?
A few small jobs every month, a longer list at the start of each season, and a handful of yearly jobs such as a furnace service, a dryer vent cleaning and a water heater flush. Most homeowners spend one weekend a season on it.
What is the most important home maintenance task?
Keeping water away from the house: clean gutters, downspouts that drain away from the foundation, caulk that is not cracked and a sump pump that works. Water causes most of the expensive repairs.
Is there a printable version of this checklist?
Yes. Use the Print this page button at the top, or your browser print command. The page prints as a clean checklist with boxes to tick, without the menu and footer.
How do I keep track of what was done?
Write the date next to each job, or keep a home maintenance log. Housemap keeps a free logbook for your house with the date each job was done, when it is due again and a reminder by email.
Sources
Related guides
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