The monthly
One email a month, timed to your house.
Not a checklist written for houses in general. Tell us what you actually have and roughly how old it is, and each month you get the one or two things worth doing before they turn into a call.
The whole schedule is below, free, with no email needed. The list is the easy part. Remembering it in the month it matters is the part the email does.
- Twelve a year, not fifty two
- A monthly sent reliably beats a weekly that stops after six weeks. Each one takes about ninety seconds to read.
- We ask about your house slowly
- A question or two at a time, never a form up front, and only after we have been useful at least once.
- Nothing is behind it
- Every fix on this site is free and stays free. The email is for the things you would not have thought to look up.
The whole schedule
51 jobs, grouped by how often they actually need doing rather than by which room they are in. Where we have written the guide, the job links to it. Where we have not, it is still on the list.
Every month
Ten minutes, and most of it is looking rather than doing. These are the checks where catching it early is the whole saving.
- Look at the furnace or air handler filter
If you cannot see light through it, it is already costing you airflow and running the system hotter than it should.
- Pour a quarter cup of white vinegar down the condensate drain
The cheap habit that stops the blockage that gets charged as a call-out every few months.
- Test the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
The test button takes a second each. A chirp is a different problem and usually not the battery.
- Press test and reset on the GFCI outlets
They are the outlets near water. A GFCI that will not trip on test is not protecting anything.
Check the pressure gauge on the fire extinguishers
The needle should sit in the green. It is the only maintenance they need and nobody does it.
- Clear the drain screens and run the garbage disposal clean
Hair and grease caught at the screen is the blockage that has not happened yet.
- Look under the sinks and at the basement plumbing for damp
A slow leak announces itself as a stain or a smell long before it announces itself as a bill.
- Clean the filters in the dishwasher and the washing machine
Both have one, both clog, and both get blamed on the appliance failing.
- Vacuum the refrigerator coils and the return grilles
Dust on the coils makes the compressor work harder for the same cold.
Check the microwave and range hood filters
Grease-loaded filters are a fire risk above a hob and stop the extraction working at all.
Every 90 days
The filter, properly. Monthly you look at it; quarterly you replace it.
- Replace the furnace or air handler filter
A loaded filter is the most common cause of a system that is running but not doing much.
Replace the refrigerator water filter
Twice a year is the usual interval, more if the water is hard. Past it, flow drops and taste goes.
Spring and summer
The warm half. Undo what winter did, then get the cooling side ready before the first week you actually need it.
- Have the air conditioning serviced
Book it in spring. Every technician is available in April and none of them are in the first heatwave.
Clear the gutters and flush the downspouts
Water that cannot leave the roof finds the fascia, then the basement.
- Check the air conditioning drain line is actually draining
Watch it run. A line that is not dripping outside is a line that is backing up inside.
- Test the sump pump
Pour a bucket of water into the pit and watch it cycle. Finding out during the storm is the expensive way.
- Drain the sediment from the water heater and test the pressure relief valve
Sediment is what makes a tank noisy, then inefficient, then finished early. The relief valve is a safety device that seizes if it is never lifted.
- Clean the dryer vent duct along its whole run
The lint screen is not the vent. This is the one job on this list with a genuine fire case behind it.
- Inspect the roof shingles from the ground
From the ground on purpose. Roof height is on the do-not-attempt list for good reason.
- Look in the attic for water stains, daylight and animals
A roof leak shows in the attic long before it shows on a ceiling.
Inspect the exterior caulking around windows and doors
Cracked caulk is how water gets behind the trim, and it is a cheap afternoon to fix.
- Clean the window and slider weep holes
They are the drain holes in the frame. Blocked, the water sits in the frame instead of leaving it.
- Oil the garage door track, chain and springs, and test the auto-reverse
Put something under the door and check it reverses. Springs themselves are not a homeowner job.
- Check the basement and foundation for moisture
Efflorescence and damp patches are the early version of the problem that later arrives as standing water.
Clean the window screens and check the door seals
Cheap, quick, and the difference between a house that holds its cool air and one that does not.
Fall and winter
The cold half. Everything here is about water that is about to freeze and heat that is about to be needed.
- Have the heating system serviced
Book it in September. The failure you are preventing happens on the coldest night, which is also the worst night to be looking for someone.
- Shut off the outdoor spigots, drain them and fit frost covers
A hose bib left charged over winter is one of the most common burst-pipe causes there is.
- Clear the gutters again after the leaves are down
Full gutters in freezing weather are how ice dams start, and an ice dam puts water under the shingles.
Have the chimney and liner inspected before the first fire
Creosote build-up and a damaged liner are both invisible from the room side.
- Find and test the main water shut-off, and the secondary ones
The time to learn where the shut-off is and whether it turns is not while water is coming out of something.
- Check the attic insulation and that the soffit vents are clear
Blocked soffits and thin insulation are what make a warm roof, and a warm roof is what makes an ice dam.
Inspect the window and door seals from the inside
If you can feel the draught you can usually see the gap, and it is a weatherstrip rather than a window.
- Clear the window wells at basement level
A blocked window well fills up, and a full window well is a basement leak waiting for the next thaw.
Trim dead branches back from the roof and the drive
Deal with them before the first heavy snow decides where they land.
- Pull the washing machine drum seal and clean behind it
That fold is where the mildew smell lives, and it is the smell people replace a machine over.
- Clean the tap aerators and shower flow restrictors
Scale collects there first, so this is the cheapest thing to try when pressure drops at one fixture.
Tighten handrails, door handles and anything else that has loosened
Ten minutes with a screwdriver, and the handrail is the one that matters.
Every two years
Often enough to matter, rare enough that nothing reminds you.
- Have the sewer line inspected and cleared
Root intrusion is gradual and then sudden. A camera inspection is a fraction of an emergency excavation.
- Have the water heater inspected
Anode, valve and connections. A tank that is going usually says so a year before it goes.
Have the chimney swept
Interval depends on how much you burn, but two years is the default if you use it at all.
Reseal the grout and recaulk the tubs and showers
Failed grout is how a bathroom leak becomes a ceiling stain in the room below.
Pressure wash the siding, deck and steps
Organic growth holds moisture against the surface, which is what actually shortens its life.
- Replace the smoke alarm backup batteries
Even the ten-year sealed units usually have a backup that does not last ten years.
Every five years
The ones that protect the expensive surfaces rather than the systems.
- Replace the water heater anode rod
It is the sacrificial part. Replacing it is what turns a ten-year tank into a fifteen-year one.
Reseal the deck and recaulk around window and door frames
Sealant is the only thing between the weather and the timber behind it.
- Replace the window and door seals
Perished seals are why a double-glazed unit mists internally and a door will not stop draughting.
Recaulk the baths, showers and sinks
Once it has gone black at the edge it is not sealing, it is just dark.
- Consider having the ducts cleaned
Worth it after building work or if there has been a pest problem. Routinely, it is oversold.
Every ten years
Rare enough to forget entirely, which is why they are written down.
- Replace the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms outright
The sensors expire whether or not the unit still beeps. There is a date printed on the back.
- Have the electrical panel inspected and the connections tightened
Connections loosen with heat cycling. The panel itself is on the stop list, so this one is not yours.
Repaint the siding and trim
Paint is weather protection that happens to be a colour. Past its life, the substrate starts paying.
Intervals are a sensible default rather than a rule. A house in a hard water area, a wooded lot or a coastal climate will want some of these more often. What each job costs, both ways, is on the guide it links to.