Home Maintenance Planner

Refrigerant charge, capacitor condition, contactor pitting and amp draw. Most warranties require documented annual service, and the first 95°F day is when everyone calls at once.

Frequency:

Once a year, spring

Typical cost:

$165

Kill power at the disconnect, then rinse from the inside out with a garden hose — never a pressure washer. Cottonwood and grass clippings are what most 'low on refrigerant' calls turn out to be.

Frequency:

Once a year, spring

Time:

30 min

Overflowing gutters rot fascia, soak sheathing and dump water at the foundation. Check that every downspout discharges at least six feet from the house.

Frequency:

Twice a year, spring and fall

Time:

120 min

Binoculars, all four elevations. Look for lifted or missing shingles, granule piles at the downspout outlets, bent flashing and any plane that has started to look wavy.

Frequency:

Once a year, spring

Time:

20 min

Soil should fall six inches over the first ten feet. Almost every wet basement and a large share of foundation movement traces back to water sitting against the wall.

Frequency:

Once a year, spring

Time:

90 min · $45 in materials

Deck collapses almost always start at the ledger. Look for corroded fasteners, missing flashing above the ledger board, soft posts at grade and any board you can sink a screwdriver into.

Frequency:

Once a year, spring

Time:

45 min

Water that beads is still protected; water that soaks in is not. Clean, let it dry two full days, then coat — sealing a damp deck traps the moisture you were trying to exclude.

Frequency:

Every 2–3 years

Time:

480 min · $180 in materials

A bedroom window is an egress route. Painted-shut sashes and seized balances are a life-safety problem, not a convenience one. Note any fogging between panes — that is a failed seal.

Frequency:

Once a year, spring

Time:

120 min · $25 in materials

Look for standing water, a torn vapor barrier, rusty duct seams, insulation hanging loose and any white efflorescence on the walls. All of it means water is getting in somewhere.

Frequency:

Once a year, spring

Time:

45 min

A cup of distilled vinegar down the cleanout tee keeps algae from plugging the line. A blocked drain on an attic air handler puts water through the ceiling below it.

Frequency:

Every 2–3 months during the cooling season

Time:

20 min · $5 in materials

Ice on the copper line means low airflow or low charge. Shut the system off and let it thaw before running it again — running an iced system is how compressors die.

Frequency:

Monthly during the cooling season

Time:

10 min

Hold a tissue to the grille — it should hold. Then confirm in the attic that the duct runs to a roof or soffit cap, not into the insulation, which is a common builder shortcut.

Frequency:

Twice a year

Time:

30 min

Three feet from siding, six feet off the roof, two feet around the outdoor unit. Branches on a roof abrade shingles and give squirrels and carpenter ants a bridge.

Frequency:

Twice a year

Time:

120 min

Treat at dusk when the colony is home. A nest inside a gable vent or a dryer vent hood blocks the airflow that vent exists to provide.

Frequency:

Monthly in summer

Time:

20 min · $12 in materials

Low pressure and a cleaner, working bottom to top and rinsing top to bottom. High pressure drives water behind lap siding and strips the chalk layer off vinyl.

Frequency:

Once a year

Time:

240 min · $40 in materials

On combustion equipment, insist the technician inspects the heat exchanger and runs a combustion analysis. A CO reading is a measurement, not an opinion — ask for the number.

Frequency:

Once a year, fall

Typical cost:

$175

Do this after the last leaf, not during the drop, or you will be doing it twice. Full gutters are how ice dams start.

Frequency:

Twice a year, spring and fall

Time:

120 min

Close a door on a dollar bill and pull — if it slides out freely, the seal is gone. The gap under one exterior door is the equivalent of a hole in the wall the size of a brick.

Frequency:

Once a year, fall

Time:

120 min · $55 in materials

A mouse needs a quarter inch. Copper mesh and sealant at pipe penetrations, dryer vents, sill plate gaps and the garage door corners, which is where they almost always get in.

Frequency:

Once a year, fall

Time:

150 min · $45 in materials

Clockwise on low pulls air up the middle and pushes the warm layer down the walls without a draft. It genuinely helps in rooms with high ceilings.

Frequency:

Twice a year

Time:

15 min

The bypass damper has a summer and a winter position and almost nobody moves it. Leaving it open all summer dumps conditioned air straight into the return.

Frequency:

Once a year, fall

Time:

30 min · $30 in materials

Flashing at chimneys, valleys and sidewalls is where winter leaks start. Confirm the attic insulation is not blocking the soffit vents, because that is what makes ice dams.

Frequency:

Once a year, fall

Time:

45 min

Sweep debris out of the board gaps, store or cover the furniture, and keep planters off the boards — trapped moisture under a pot is where deck rot usually begins.

Frequency:

Once a year, fall

Time:

60 min

Pipes in exterior walls and unheated crawlspaces are the ones that burst. Moving water and warm room air at the cabinet are what get them through the night.

Frequency:

During every hard freeze

Time:

10 min

Below 30% shrinks trim and cracks furniture. Above 50% in a cold climate condenses on windows and inside wall cavities. A $15 hygrometer settles the argument.

Frequency:

Monthly in winter

Time:

10 min · $15 in materials

Look for damp sill plates, sweating supply lines and any new staining on the foundation wall. Insulating cold supply lines is a cheap fix for a puddle nobody can explain.

Frequency:

Monthly in winter

Time:

20 min

Sediment insulates the burner from the water, which wastes fuel and overheats the tank bottom. Drain a few gallons through a hose until it runs clear.

Frequency:

Once a year

Time:

60 min

The anode corrodes so the tank does not. Replacing a $45 rod on schedule is the single change that takes a water heater from ten years to fifteen.

Frequency:

Every 2–3 years

Time:

60 min · $45 in materials

Old gate valves seize in the open position, which you discover during the emergency. Turn it fully off and back on, and make sure everyone in the house knows where it is.

Frequency:

Once a year

Time:

10 min

Lint in the duct is the leading cause of dryer fires and the most common reason a dryer takes three cycles to dry a load. Brush the full run, not just the trap.

Frequency:

Once a year

Time:

60 min · $40 in materials

Subterranean termite damage is excluded from every standard homeowner's policy. An annual inspection is the only thing standing between you and a structural repair.

Frequency:

Once a year

Typical cost:

$125

Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. A short-term test kit costs less than a filter, and mitigation runs $1,000 to $2,500 if you need it.

Frequency:

Every 2 years, and after any foundation work

Time:

20 min · $35 in materials

Go up on a bright day with the lights off. Daylight means a hole, dark staining on sheathing means a leak or a bath fan dumping into the attic, and compressed insulation means you are heating the sky.

Frequency:

Once a year

Time:

30 min

Modern dishwashers have a manual filter that nobody mentions at delivery. A clogged one is behind almost every 'it stopped cleaning' service call.

Frequency:

Every 3 months

Time:

10 min

Every joint where two materials meet is where water gets in. A tube of sealant at a failed window head is a few dollars; the sheathing repair it prevents is four figures.

Frequency:

Once a year

Time:

180 min · $85 in materials

A restricted filter starves the blower, freezes the evaporator coil in summer and cracks heat exchangers in winter. This is the highest-return five minutes in homeownership.

Frequency:

Check monthly, replace every 1–3 months

Time:

5 min · $16 in materials

Press and hold until it sounds. Alarms themselves expire — replace smoke alarms at 10 years and CO alarms at 7, dated from the label on the back.

Frequency:

Monthly

Time:

10 min

Ground-fault devices fail closed as they age, meaning they still deliver power but no longer protect. The test button is the only way to know.

Frequency:

Monthly

Time:

10 min

A dry P-trap lets sewer gas into the house. Thirty seconds of water in a guest bath or a basement floor drain refills the seal.

Frequency:

Monthly

Time:

5 min

Rust streaks, damp concrete or a weeping relief valve are the warning a tank gives before it opens up. Catching it turns a flood into a scheduled replacement.

Frequency:

Monthly

Time:

5 min

Hot water and degreaser in the sink. A loaded filter is both a fire load and a dead exhaust fan.

Frequency:

Monthly

Time:

10 min