A home maintenance schedule: what to do monthly, seasonally and yearly

Houses don't usually fail all at once. A filter clogs, a seal dries out, a vent fills with lint, and a year later it's a repair bill. Most of the work that prevents this is small. The trouble is that it happens on a dozen different clocks, and none of them are the one on your wall.

Below is a schedule grouped by how often each job comes round. Where a public safety or energy agency gives an interval, we say who. Where the answer depends on your equipment, the manual wins, and we say that too.

Every month

• Check the furnace or heat pump filter, and change it when it looks dirty. ENERGY STAR recommends checking it monthly. Homes with pets or a lot of dust go through filters faster.
• Test the smoke alarms. The U.S. Fire Administration says to test them monthly. Test the carbon monoxide alarms at the same time.
• Press the test button on the GFCI outlets in the kitchen, bathrooms and outside, then press reset. Many manufacturers ask for this monthly; the instructions for your outlets say for sure.
• Run water in any sink, shower or toilet you rarely use, so the drain trap doesn't dry out and let sewer smells in.

Every load, and now and then

• Clean the dryer's lint filter before or after every cycle, as the U.S. Fire Administration advises.
• Every so often, pull the dryer out and clean the lint from behind it. Check that the vent hose isn't crushed or kinked and that the outdoor flap opens when the dryer runs.

Every three months

• Clean the range hood filter. Metal mesh filters usually go in the dishwasher or a sink of hot soapy water; check the hood's manual.
• Clean the dishwasher filter, if yours has one you can remove. Many newer dishwashers do.

Spring

• Book a check-up for the air conditioner or heat pump. ENERGY STAR suggests having the cooling system checked in the spring.
• Clean the gutters again, and walk round the house looking for anything winter loosened: shingles, siding, flashing and caulking around windows.
• Reconnect the hoses and turn the outside taps back on. Check for leaks the first time you run them; a pipe that froze over winter often shows up now.
• Clean or replace the window screens before you open the windows.

Fall

• Book the heating check-up. ENERGY STAR suggests having the heating system checked in the fall.
• Disconnect the hoses, shut off the outside taps and clean the gutters once the leaves are down.
• The rest of the fall list is long enough to have its own post.

Once a year

• Have the chimney and vents cleaned and inspected, if you burn wood or have a fuel-burning appliance. The U.S. Fire Administration says at least once a year.
• Change replaceable smoke alarm batteries. The U.S. Fire Administration says at least once a year. Alarms with a sealed 10-year battery don't need this.
• Flush the water heater tank and test its pressure relief valve, following the manual. Sediment builds up faster with hard water, and some manufacturers ask for the valve to be checked more often than once a year.
• Vacuum the refrigerator's condenser coils, if they're reachable. They're usually behind a grille at the bottom or on the back.
• Check the caulking around tubs, showers and sinks, and redo any that's cracked or pulling away.
• Test the main water shut-off valve so you know it turns when you need it.

Every few years and beyond

• Replace smoke alarms every 10 years. The U.S. Fire Administration says this for both battery and hardwired alarms. Alarms with a sealed long-life battery follow the manufacturer's instructions.
• Replace carbon monoxide alarms by the date printed on them. Lifespans vary by model.
• Keep an eye on the age of the big items: water heater, furnace, roof. You don't need to replace them on a timetable, but knowing that the water heater is 14 years old turns a surprise into a decision you get to plan for.

Your house will need its own version

No generic list fits every home. A condo has no gutters. A house with a well, a septic tank, a sump pump or a heat pump has jobs this list doesn't mention. Start with this one, cross out what doesn't apply, and add what your equipment's manuals ask for. The manual is always the better source for a specific machine.

Keeping it on schedule with HomeHero

A schedule only helps if something reminds you. In HomeHero, each job becomes a task. Recurring tasks repeat every so many days, weeks, months or years, so "every 3 months" and "every 10 years" both work.

Link each task to the item it's for. Then the furnace's page has the filter size in a custom field, the manual as a PDF, last year's service receipt, and the task that's coming up, all together. When you replace the furnace, the history is right there for whoever looks at it next.

The bell in the app shows what's due and overdue, and recurring tasks that have come round again. With Sync, you also get an email the day before a task is due, and another if it goes overdue.

A good way to start is to set up just the monthly jobs this week, and add the rest as each one comes up.

Sources

• ENERGY STAR, Maintenance checklist
• U.S. Fire Administration, Smoke alarms
• U.S. Fire Administration, Heating fire safety
• U.S. Fire Administration, Clothes dryer fire safety (PDF)