Seasonal home maintenance checklist (2026)

The honest truth: 80% of home "emergencies" start as something a 20-minute inspection would have caught. This is the schedule we actually follow.

Spring (March – May)

• Walk the roof perimeter from the ground with binoculars. Look for lifted shingles, missing granules in the gutters, pulled flashing around chimneys and vent stacks.
• Clean gutters and downspouts. Flush with a hose. If water doesn't come out the downspout, the clog is lower — not higher.
• Check all outdoor hose bibs for split pipes from winter freeze. A quick turn-on and listen inside the wall for hissing.
• Re-caulk any exterior gaps around windows, doors, and siding penetrations. Use a 50-year polyurethane, not basic acrylic latex.
• Service the AC condenser: hose out the fins from the inside out, clear 2 ft of plants around it.

Summer (June – August)

• Test GFCI outlets in kitchen, bath, garage, and exterior. Press TEST — power should drop; RESET brings it back. Replace any that don't trip; they are not protecting you.
• Clean the dryer vent all the way to the exterior cap. Not the lint trap — the full duct. The leading cause of residential fires that start in laundry rooms.
• Pressure wash the deck, let it dry 48 hrs, re-stain every 2–3 years.
• Check attic for signs of heat damage, roof leaks, or pest entry. Summer is when attic heat tells you where insulation is missing.

Fall (September – November)

• Second gutter cleaning, after most leaves are down. This one matters more than spring.
• Blow out the irrigation system before the first hard freeze.
• Reverse ceiling fans to clockwise at low speed — pushes warm air down.
• Change the HVAC filter. Have the furnace inspected if you haven't in 2+ years ($100–150 is cheap insurance).
• Test every smoke and CO detector. Replace batteries. Replace any detector older than 10 years (check the date on the back).

Winter (December – February)

• Check attic insulation depth. Should be R-38 to R-60 depending on climate (10–20 inches of blown cellulose).
• Open cabinets under sinks on exterior walls during hard freezes. Lets warm air reach the pipes.
• Walk the basement during and after heavy rain. Note where water shows up — that's your next waterproofing project.
• Vacuum refrigerator condenser coils. Saves 10–15% on running costs and adds years to the compressor.

The two tools you need for this list

If you're doing nothing else, a good stud finder and a cordless drill handle 80% of the follow-up repairs this checklist uncovers. See our homeowner toolkit page for the picks we use.

When to call a pro

Anything on the roof past a single-story overhang. Anything involving a gas line. Anything electrical past replacing a device (outlet, switch, fixture) you can see all four wires of. Those three categories are where DIY mistakes get expensive — or deadly — fast.