Home maintenance checklists
Every home needs the same boring upkeep, just on different schedules. Here's what to do, how often, and what it costs to skip, down to the jobs you never knew were jobs. Sorted by season, or by the part of the house it lives in.
Every house runs on the same handful of jobs. The trouble isn't knowing how to do them, it's remembering they exist before the thing they prevent goes wrong. A filter, a flush, a clear-out: dull, cheap, and a good deal cheaper than the repair that turns up when they're skipped.
Two ways to read these. By season tells you what to get on with now, while the weather still lets you. By part of the house works through one system at a time. Either way, each job comes with a straight answer on how often it actually needs doing, and what it costs you when it doesn't get done.
The third little pig did the boring jobs on time. His was the house left standing.
By season
Spring home maintenance checklist
Winter's done chewing on the place. Spring is for finding what it broke and getting the outside ready before the heat arrives. Here's the list, with how often each job actually needs doing.
36 jobs
Summer home maintenance checklist
The warm-weather jobs and the keep-it-running ones. Long evenings are good for the outdoor projects you keep putting off, and the machines inside still want a look.
17 jobs
Fall home maintenance checklist
The big one. Everything you do now is something that won't burst, freeze or seize when it turns cold. Get ahead of winter while the weather still lets you.
31 jobs
Winter home maintenance checklist
Stuck inside anyway, so it's the indoor and safety jobs' turn. The detectors, the valves, the quiet leaks. Small things that matter most on the worst possible day.
25 jobs
By part of the house
Safety maintenance checklist
The jobs that earn their keep on the day something goes wrong. Boring right up until they're not.
6 jobs
HVAC & air maintenance checklist
Filters, fans and services. Keep the air moving so the system isn't working harder, and your bills aren't either.
7 jobs
Plumbing maintenance checklist
Water is patient and water is expensive. These are the jobs that keep it where it belongs.
11 jobs
Exterior maintenance checklist
The shell that takes the weather so you don't. Catch the small stuff out here before it gets inside.
12 jobs
Appliances maintenance checklist
The machines you lean on without thinking. A little upkeep buys a lot more life out of them.
5 jobs
Seasonal maintenance checklist
The jobs tied to the calendar, the ones where doing them late defeats the point. Also grouped by season: spring, summer, fall and winter.
11 jobs
Cleaning maintenance checklist
Not the daily wipe-round. The deep cleans and descaling the house quietly needs, the jobs you forget until the kettle's furred up and the oven's smoking.
21 jobs
Yardwork maintenance checklist
The grounds are never quite finished with you. Lawn, beds, hedges and the kit that tends them, each wanting doing at its own time of year.
21 jobs
How often should you…
Every job, with a straight answer on how often it needs doing.
- How often should you test your smoke and CO detectors?
- How often should you replace your detector batteries?
- How often should you check your fire extinguisher?
- How often should you clean your dryer vent?
- How often should you test your GFCI outlets?
- How often should you test your home for radon?
- How often should you replace your HVAC filter?
- How often should you service your furnace?
- How often should you service your air conditioner?
- How often should you clear your A/C condensate drain line?
- How often should you clean your A/C evaporator coils?
- How often should you clean your bathroom exhaust fans?
- How often should you clean your range hood filter?
- How often should you flush your water heater?
- How often should you replace your water heater's anode rod?
- How often should you test your sump pump?
- How often should you refill your water softener salt?
- How often should you replace your fridge water filter?
- How often should you test your shut-off valves?
- How often should you check under your sinks for leaks?
- How often should you inspect your washing machine hoses?
- How often should you check your toilets for silent leaks?
- How often should you pump your septic tank?
- How often should you test your well water?
- How often should you vacuum your refrigerator coils?
- How often should you clean your dishwasher filter?
- How often should you clean your garbage disposal?
- How often should you clean your washing machine?
- How often should you lubricate your garage door?
- How often should you clean your gutters?
- How often should you have your chimney swept?
- How often should you reseal your deck?
- How often should you clear your window wells?
- How often should you pressure-wash your siding?
- How often should you touch up your exterior caulk?
- How often should you check your roof?
- How often should you check your foundation grading?
- How often should you prune the trees off your house?
- How often should you wash your windows and swap the screens?
- How often should you lubricate your door locks?
- How often should you seal your driveway?
- How often should you winterize your outdoor faucets?
- How often should you fertilize your lawn?
- How often should you cover your air conditioner?
- How often should you check your weatherstripping?
- How often should you reverse your ceiling fans?
- How often should you test your backup generator?
- How often should you open your pool for the season?
- How often should you close your pool for winter?
- How often should you test your pool chemistry?
- How often should you start up your sprinklers?
- How often should you blow out your irrigation system?
- How often should you descale your kettle?
- How often should you descale your coffee machine?
- How often should you deep-clean your oven?
- How often should you descale your showerhead?
- How often should you flip and rotate your mattress?
- How often should you wash your pillows and duvet?
- How often should you clean your window tracks?
- How often should you clean out your fridge?
- How often should you reseal your bathroom silicone?
- How often should you reseal your stone worktops?
- How often should you clean your vacuum filter?
- How often should you deep-clean your carpets?
- How often should you flush your slow drains?
- How often should you wash out your bins?
- How often should you deep-clean and reseal your tile grout?
- How often should you clean your faucet aerators?
- How often should you clean your air vents and registers?
- How often should you deep-clean your upholstery?
- How often should you defrost your freezer?
- How often should you wash your curtains and drapes?
- How often should you clean your blinds?
- How often should you aerate your lawn?
- How often should you overseed your lawn?
- How often should you dethatch your lawn?
- How often should you put down crabgrass preventer?
- How often should you sharpen your mower blade?
- How often should you service your lawnmower?
- How often should you winterize your mower?
- How often should you re-cut your lawn and bed edges?
- How often should you mulch your beds?
- How often should you trim your hedges?
- How often should you treat your fence?
- How often should you store your patio furniture?
- How often should you deep-clean your grill?
- How often should you drain and store your garden hoses?
- How often should you clear the fallen leaves off your lawn?
- How often should you cut back and clear your garden beds?
- How often should you treat your lawn for grubs?
- How often should you wash your deck?
- How often should you clean your patio and pavers?
- How often should you service your string trimmer?
- How often should you sharpen and oil your garden tools?
Or let Grumpty keep the list
Grumpty is a free home-maintenance app. It turns up with this list already written, tracks the dates, grumbles when each job is due, and rolls it forward the moment you mark it done.
No card, no account to see your list.