Your home maintenance schedule, built around your house
Answer three quick questions. Get the year of maintenance your house actually needs, season by season, each job linked to a full how-to.
Your home maintenance schedule
Year-round
On repeat-
Find your main water shutoff Once, today
Know where the main shutoff is before you need it, not during the leak. It is usually where the supply line comes into the basement or garage. Tag it so anyone in the house can find it in the dark.
Read the full how-to -
Furnace and AC filter Every 90 days (30 to 60 with pets or allergies)
Swap the filter on schedule. A clogged one chokes the airflow, runs up the power bill, and makes the blower work harder than it should. Match the size printed on the side of the old one, and mind the airflow arrow.
Read the full how-to -
Smoke and CO alarms Test yearly, replace the unit at 10 years
Hit the test button and change the batteries once a year. Then check the date stamped on the back of each unit. Past ten years old, the sensor is done, and the whole alarm gets replaced, not re-batteried.
Read the full how-to -
GFCI outlets Push-test monthly
Press the test button on the outlets by the sinks, the tub, and outdoors. The power should cut, then come back when you press reset. That is the shock protection proving it still works.
Read the full how-to -
Refrigerator coils Every 6 to 12 months
Brush the dust off the coils behind or beneath the fridge. Caked coils make the compressor run hotter and longer for no reason. Ten minutes, no cost, and the fridge lasts longer for it.
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Washing machine hoses Check yearly, swap every 3 to 5 years
Look behind the washer for bulges, kinks, or rust at the hose ends. Rubber supply hoses fail with the water on, and the water is always on. Braided steel replacements are a few dollars and worth every one.
Spring
March – May-
AC tune-up Once a year, before it gets hot
Get the cooling side serviced before the first heat wave, when every HVAC company is booked two weeks out. Clear the leaves out of the outdoor unit yourself and cut back anything growing into it.
Read the full how-to -
AC condensate drain Clear at the start of cooling season
Flush the condensate line before you run the AC hard. A clogged drain is the reason an AC quietly leaks water across the floor in July. A wet/dry vac on the outside end clears most of them in a minute.
Read the full how-to -
Gutters, spring pass Twice a year
Clear the seeds and blossoms that dropped over spring, then run a hose through so the first summer storm has somewhere to go. Check that the downspouts still carry water well away from the foundation.
Read the full how-to -
Sump pump Test before the wet season, then every 90 days
Pour a few gallons into the pit and watch the pump kick on and clear it. Do this before the spring rains, not during the flood. If it hums but does not move water, that is the one you fix now.
Read the full how-to -
Roof and flashing check Once a year, and after any big storm
Walk the perimeter and look up: missing or curled shingles, grit collecting in the gutters, flashing pulling away at the chimney. You do not need to get on the roof. Binoculars from the yard catch most of it, and an older roof earns a closer look.
Summer
June – August-
Dryer vent Once a year (every 6 months with heavy use)
Pull the duct off the back of the dryer and clear the lint all the way to the outside vent flap. Lint is the leading cause of dryer fires. A long dry summer is a fine time to take the ten minutes.
Read the full how-to
Fall
September – November You are here-
Furnace or heat tune-up Once a year, before it gets cold
Book the heating service before the first cold snap fills the schedule. A fresh filter goes in at the same visit, and the tech confirms the burner and the CO side are clean, which is the part you cannot check yourself.
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Gutters, fall pass Twice a year, or 3 to 4 under trees
Wait until most of the leaves are down, then clear everything so winter melt has a clear path off the roof. Homes under overhanging trees need this two or three times through the fall, not once and done.
Read the full how-to -
Water heater flush Once a year (every 6 months on a well or hard water)
Drain a few gallons off the bottom of the tank to clear the sediment that settles there. Sediment makes the heater work harder and rust out years early. On hard water or a well, do it twice a year.
Read the full how-to -
Outdoor faucets Before the first hard freeze
Disconnect the hoses, shut the inside valve that feeds each outdoor faucet, then open the faucet outside to drain the line. Water left in that pipe over a freeze is a burst pipe inside the wall, found in spring.
Read the full how-to
Winter
December – February-
Ice dams and the attic After a heavy snow
After a heavy snow, look for thick ice ridges building at the roof edge. They mean warm air is escaping into the attic, melting snow that refreezes at the cold eave. More attic insulation is the fix, not chipping at the ice.
Read the full how-to -
Indoor humidity Through the heating season
Dry winter air splits trim, cracks furniture, and dries out everyone in the house. Aim for 30 to 40 percent. A cheap gauge tells you whether you need a humidifier running or a bath fan running longer.
A schedule is the shape of the year, not a promise about your exact house. Timings are typical for the setup you picked. Your first hard freeze, your tree cover, and your water hardness move the dates around.
Common questions
- How often should you do home maintenance?
- Most home maintenance is seasonal: four light passes a year, spring through winter, plus a handful of year-round checks. The filter, the smoke alarms, and the GFCI outlets are the ones people forget in between.
- What home maintenance should I do in the spring?
- Spring is for the cooling side and the water winter left behind: service the AC before the first heat wave, clear the gutters, test the sump pump before the rains, and check the roof for anything that loosened over winter.
- What is the most important home maintenance to keep up with?
- The cheap, boring jobs that prevent water damage and fire: the HVAC filter, the dryer vent, the gutters, and the water heater flush. None cost much. Every one of them gets expensive when it is skipped.
- Can I do home maintenance myself, or do I need a pro?
- Most of the list is a bucket, a brush, or a screwdriver. The tune-ups are the exception: HVAC, chimney, and septic are worth a professional. Everything else is a homeowner job you learn once and repeat.
A printed schedule can't tell you which week.
This list is the shape of the year. It can't know your furnace tune-up is due this month, or that your filter is the odd size the store never stocks. Kempt keeps your house's actual list and surfaces the one job that's due, the week it's due. One thing at a time.
7 days free. Then $39.99 a year or $7.99 a month. iPhone only for now.
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