Preventative Home Maintenance Checklist

Roof and gutter covered in fall leaves.Preventative home maintenance checklist.

Preventative home maintenance checklist. A house may last for generations, but its parts and systems will only last a lifetime with regular attention. A roof can spring a leak, or a furnace can fail on a frigid winter night. 

Create and stick to an annual preventative maintenance plan to prevent problems. Regularly checking your home's major systems can also help you avoid emerging crises.

The preventative home maintenance checklist below takes just a short time to perform and can help prevent hazardous conditions and expensive repairs.

Tackle these tasks throughout the year to keep your home running smoothly. 

Yearly Preventative Home Maintenance Checklist

Take advantage of sunny days to inspect your home's exterior. Yearly home maintenance tasks include: 

  • Inspect and clean roof, downspouts, and gutters; and repair if needed
  • Have your chimney inspected; clean it if needed
  • Have heating and cooling systems professionally serviced to keep them in tip-top working condition

Check the seal around your windows and doors inside your home, and replace weather stripping as needed.

This simple fix can make your home energy efficient. Now is also the time to check your home's flooring for wear and plan to refinish, repair, or replace it as needed. 

Seasonal Preventative Home Maintenance Checklist

Seasonal preventative home maintenance checklist includes:

  • Check your home's masonry and stucco for surface cracks;  seal and repair if needed
  • Clean or change furnace filters (do this monthly if you have pets) 
  • Check the areas around your washing machine and dishwasher for leaks, and seal or repair as needed

Semi-Annual Preventative Home Maintenance Checklist Tasks

Woman washing exterior home window.Clean your home's exterior semi-annually.

Twice yearly tasks to tackle around your home:

  • Scrub away any mold or mildew on your home's exterior with a bleach and water solution.
  • Check for leaks in the attic, basement, and garage. Repair yourself or bring in a professional if needed.
  • Check caulking around tubs, showers, and sinks; replace caulking in these areas as needed.

Monthly Preventative Home Maintenance Checklist Tasks

Here are the essential preventative maintenance tasks to perform each month:

  • Clear your front walkway of surface debris, algae, snow, and other pedestrian hazards. 
  • Test batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Monthly Maintenance and Cleaning Checklists

Some tasks only need to be done once or twice a year. The problem is that we forget to do them once or twice a year. 
Otherwise, we tend to save it all for spring cleaning, which makes it such a daunting chore that it doesn't occur, either.

The best plan is to break annual and seasonal tasks down by month and tackle them daily or weekly. This way, everything gets backed up, and things eventually get done.

Concentrating on one room or area each month is more rewarding because you can see the results.
Here's the month-by-month home maintenance and cleaning schedule that works best for me. You can try it to help ensure it all gets done this year.


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