Home maintenance schedule
Answer a few questions about your home to get a month-by-month maintenance checklist you can print or add to your calendar.
Tasks a year
- Done by a pro
Estimates only.
Your schedule
Home maintenance schedule (pond.com/tools/home-maintenance-schedule)
- Pro
How this schedule works
Tell us when your home was built, how it's heated and cooled, whether you get freezing winters and which features it has, such as gutters, a septic system or a pool. The schedule picks the tasks that apply to your home and sorts them by month, marks the jobs best left to a pro and estimates how much time the do-it-yourself tasks take in a year. You can print it, copy it or add it to your calendar.
Why regular maintenance pays
Small jobs done on time prevent big repair bills. A clogged gutter can lead to a wet basement, a neglected furnace can fail on the coldest night, and a lint-filled dryer vent is a fire risk. Most tasks take a few minutes and a few dollars.
Tips
- Book pros early. Heating companies get busy in fall and AC companies in late spring.
- Keep a home log of what you did and when, including receipts. It helps with warranties and when you sell.
- Know your shut-offs. Make sure everyone in the house knows where to turn off the water, gas and power.
For the full list with explanations, see the home maintenance checklist, and before winter, how to winterize your home.
Common questions
Check it every one to three months. Thin fiberglass filters usually need changing monthly, while thicker pleated filters can last up to three months, or longer for some media filters. Change it more often if you have pets, allergies or a dusty home, and follow the furnace maker's advice.
Usually twice a year, in late spring and late fall after the leaves drop. Homes under lots of trees may need it more often.
Servicing furnaces, boilers, heat pumps and central air, sweeping chimneys, inspecting septic systems and checking electrical panels are best left to licensed pros. The schedule marks these so you know to book them ahead.
Download the calendar file and open it in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook. Each task repeats every year in the right month, on the first Saturday by default, so you'll get a reminder without having to remember.