An ideal home maintenance checklist will bring your home to its best condition possible. The work should be broken into groups, making it easy to know when specific tasks should be done. This article includes a checklist that will guide you through everything that needs to be done. Get your free home maintenance checklist below to bring your home to where it needs to be.
What Is Regular Maintenance On A Home?
Home maintenance is an important part of keeping your home in good condition. Anyone who lives in a house has regular maintenance tasks that need to be done throughout the year. Each house is different, and the routine can be altered accordingly.
Regular home maintenance regards the tasks that need to be done on a regular basis. The most common category of this are things that should be done on a monthly basis. These can be items like checking for dead batteries, or replacing filters.
Regular home maintenance is meant to keep certain aspects of your home operating in peak working condition. We are going to cover the complete list of maintenance activities in this article. If you are looking for a printable PDF version of this list, you can download My Home Maintenance Checklist by clicking the link below.
Why Do I Need A Home Maintenance Routine?
Over time things around the house begin to fall apart, or lose some of their strength. If they are maintained well, they will last longer in the end. This can save you money by not needing to run the heater or air conditioner as much, or replace outdoor pipes that burst from freezing weather. You may also run into possibly damaging your health and reducing your family’s safety.
Once your house is at good performance levels, it doesn’t take much to keep it maintained. Keep reading to find out how to set up a home maintenance routine.
Can I Do The Home Maintenance Work Myself?
Some people hire a handyman to do the work for them. It’s easy to pay someone, especially if you don’t know where to begin. It’s also possible to do some of the tasks yourself, and outsource the ones you don’t know very well.
It’s best if you learn what needs to be done on your home, so you know when things are working best. This way there is no confusion with needing to ask someone new to figure out what needs to be done. Keeping your home in good condition is a skill every homeowner should have.
You don’t need to overwhelm yourself by doing all the tasks at once. They are broken down over the course of the year, with only a handful that need to be done at particular times. You will be able to divide them up into smaller lists that aren’t as overwhelming.
There are also certain jobs that should only be done at a particular time period. For example, your outdoor faucets should only be protected from freezing weather during that type of weather. You don’t need to insulate them during the summer time.
My Home Maintenance Checklist
My Home Maintenance Checklist is a free PDF I made to help you see when each maintenance task should be done. It includes all the main tasks that keep your home in ideal condition so there will be no guessing what needs to be done.
The FREE checklist lets you...
- Save money with a more energy efficient home.
- Keep your family safe with up-to-date features.
- Take the guess work out of what to do, when.
Some of the categories include
- Seasonal tasks
- Monthly tasks
- Annual tasks
- Home safety items
- Tasks specific to your home
The free My Home Maintenance Checklist covers all parts of your home inside and out, giving you better peace of mind. Know your home is in safe and healthy condition for yourself and your family!
Seasonal Home Maintenance Checklist
The seasons are a time of change. This includes changes your home goes through. Stay one step ahead by doing the things listed below.
Spring Home Maintenance
Spring is a time of change in the seasons that brings warmer and sunnier weather. The cold, dark winter can tend to cause some damage on the exterior of the house. Spring is a time we can take advantage of the nice weather as it becomes available.
Yard Maintenance
The yard is generally neglected throughout the winter. Spring is when we can make it tidy by cleaning any debris or leaves that may have blown in.
You can also give the lawn its initial mow and edging to get it ready for the summer season. I recommend doing this by setting the lawn mower blades to the lowest setting you can. This will give you more time before the next mow as the grass begins to grow in the warmer weather.
This is also a good time to fertilize your lawn. The lawn is going to begin growing at a faster pace, which means it will want to be fed to look its healthiest.
Inspect Roof and Gutters
Start your roof inspection in the attic (if applicable). Take a look at the underside of the roof for any water damage, or leaking. This should be noticeable by an off-colored water stain on the plywood. Any water damage you spot here can be linked to a problem with the shingles directly outside of this damage.
Look for damaged shingles by walking around your house and looking at the shingles from below. You are looking for curling of the tips, or their sliding out of alignment. If you can’t see the shingles from the ground very well you may need to go on the roof to look closer.
DISCLAIMER: Do not climb on the ladder or roof if you are uncomfortable with heights. This is a job that can be outsourced to a handyman, keeping you on the safe ground.
Some terms we should define are gutter and downspout. The gutter is a “U” shaped channel along the edge of the roof of your house that collects rainwater. It moves the water to a downspout which is a vertical pipe that is usually at one or both ends of the gutter.
If you live in a wet location your gutters and downspouts will get plenty of use in the winter. Do a walk around your property and look for any damage to the gutter and downspouts from below. If you don’t see any, get on a ladder that lets you look in the gutters for excess debris that needs to be cleaned out.
The gutter is an area that tends to get clogged by leaves and other debris that finds its way to your roof. It’s important to remove these leaves before they can get clogged in the downspout. This can cause damage to the gutter, which may require being replaced sooner than it should have been.
Nowadays there are several options to keep the gutter clear of leaves. These options are best installed after the gutter has been cleaned. Below are a few of my top choices you can look at to keep your gutters clear of leaves and debris for years to come.
Top Choices For Gutter Protection:
Spring Cleaning
We all know spring is a time for cleaning. There are some key places around your property you will want to focus on in particular.
Cleaning the windows will help bring more natural light in, boosting your mood. You want to do this when there is less chance of rain happening in the future.
Summer Home Maintenance
The majority of the focus for summertime is going to be outside. The weather is nice, so let’s take advantage of this. It can include a combination of yard work and maintenance on the home’s exterior.
Any damage to the siding and the trim of the house should be addressed. That is because this type of work will be finished with a fresh coat of paint. We need nice weather to make sure the paint dries well. This can also be the time to put a fresh coat of paint on the house if needed.
Yard Work can be fully addressed at this time. The plants are growing well, which means they can get a little unruly. Make sure you keep up with trimming the hedges, and mowing the lawn. The hedges may not need as much attention, but the lawn should be mowed on average once every week.
Yard work is another thing that can be outsourced. There are lawn care services that will come to your house on a regular basis, and do the work. They will get it done even when you are not there, making the yard nice and clean for when you come home.
Fall Home Maintenance
The fall is a time to get your home ready for the winter. The weather is beginning to change, making it important to tie up any loose ends in the yard. Get things ready for the cold wet winter that is right around the corner.
After you finish with the yard work, your attention should be on the inside of the house. There are a few areas that need to be addressed to make sure your home is comfortable for the winter. Here you are going to focus on areas that heat the house, and places that keep the heat in the house.
A wood burning fireplace takes some preparation to get it in safe working condition. You want to make sure there aren’t excessive amounts of soot that accumulated in the chimney. This is also a good time to inspect for cracks that need repair.
For a complete overview on proper fireplace maintenance, take a look at my article called Fireplace Maintenance And Repair.
One thing that will help cut down on heating costs is to check the weatherstripping in the windows and doorways. It doesn’t take long to replace pieces that are worn out, and will save you a lot of money in heating costs.
Winter Home Maintenance
This time of the year is focused on efficiently keeping the warmth in your house. It’s also a time to prevent areas of your home from getting damaged by the cold weather.
It’s important to make sure you have enough insulation in the attic space of your house. This can be done by going up there and measuring the depth. At first glance you want to be able to see the top of the joists. Next, dig down and hold a tape measure to the drywall below. The depth should be 14 inches at a minimum to the top of the insulation. This can vary in depth depending on the climate your house is in.
It’s important to make sure your outdoor faucets don’t freeze. Do this by unscrewing the hose, and putting these Hose Bib Insulators on. You will want to have one for each outdoor hose bib. If there are exposed pipes you will want to make sure those are insulated with pipe wrap.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most important item for home maintenance?
Home maintenance is the method of maximizing your home’s performance for the longest amount of time. The categories these tasks fall into are things like safety, energy efficiency, and aesthetics to name a few. The tasks you will be doing are things like cleaning filters, adding insulation, and changing batteries in safety equipment.
What is a maintenance plan for a house?
A good home maintenance plan shows you what the necessary tasks are, and in the right time period. There are services that can be used where you will be paying somebody else to do these items. The truth is these tasks can be done by anybody who has even a slight amount of DIY abilities.
The tools are pretty basic when it comes to what’s needed for any of the home maintenance projects. It’s good to have these, and I recommend grabbing them if you don’t already have them.
Conclusion
Home maintenance is an important part of making sure your home is in the best condition it can be in. The jobs we do will work at keeping you and your family healthy, and safe. You are going to save money as well.
Get a free copy of My Home Maintenance Checklist today to make sure you stay on top of everything that goes into home maintenance.
I hope this article helped you out. Here at Castle Remodel I am devoted to helping you turn your home into your sanctuary. Check out the articles on any topics you have questions on.
Happy Remodeling,
Kevin