Maintaining all of the systems in your home can be a time-consuming task. The HVAC system, plumbing, electrical, structure and all the cleaning that needs to be done periodically to ensure your home is running as smoothly as possible. The tough part of truly maintaining your home is that all of these systems need different amounts of attention on different lengths of time. I aim to provide you with a structure so you can come up with both a monthly and yearly home maintenance calendar so you can be sure your home is in tip top shape!

Monthly:

It’s important to keep up on maintaining your HVAC system. Because this system is typically used year round in most climates to heat and cool your home, you’ll want to make sure it’s working as efficiently as possible. Poorly maintained HVAC systems can cost you a lot of money monthly and puts a strain on the environment with its excess energy consumption. I recommend going to check your HVAC filters once a month, so you can know when it’s time to replace the filters. Typically, it’s recommended to change your filters at least every 3 months but your mileage may vary as it depends on how much dirt dust and debris gets caught up in there. Another good idea to do monthly is to vacuum, any heat registers or vents. Because these can get clogged with dust, dirt, and debris, keeping them clean is a key piece of HVAC maintenance.

Smoke alarms, fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors save countless lives every year but that’s only when they are working properly. Make sure to test all three of these items once a month to ensure that you are prepared in case of an emergency.

Cleaning your showerheads and faucet aerators to remove any mineral deposits that may get caught in there. Because these items are used really frequently, they have a propensity to catch excess debris and can cause a loss of water pressure and put strain on the pipes in your home.

Garbage disposals can be cleaned with some grinding of ice cubes and then flushing the disposal with a mixture of hot water and baking soda. By keeping your garbage disposals clean, you can avoid an untimely drain backup and prolong the life of the disposal.

Inspect your drains in sinks and tubs. Again, because these drains are used very frequently, they can often get clogged with hair and other debris. Having a drain snake handy can help you unclog these drains quickly and can prevent deterioration of your drains. Avoid using liquid drain cleaner wherever possible as it can cause more damage to your drains than it helps with.

Yearly:

Check your gutters. Gutters frequently get clogged up with leaves, dirt, dust and debris. By keeping these clean you can ensure your foundation, roof, and basement stay in working condition and can save you a ton of money by prevent issues with any of those important structures.

Flush your tank style water heater yearly to reduce the amount of sediment build up in the tank. Sediment build up can cause unnecessary corrosion to happen inside the tank and therefore cost you a lot of money to replace it. Another thing to keep an eye on is the condition of your anode rod inside your water heater. Anode rods work by sacrificing themselves to natural corrosion in order to prevent the structural integrity of the tank. Again, your mileage may vary here depending on the make up of your water but it’s a good thing to keep an eye on.

Caulking windows and trim to prevent air leaks in your home. Air leaks and drafts inside your home forces your HVAC system to work much harder to push the same amount of heated or cooled air. Because it forces the system to work harder it ends up costing you a lot of money and is harder on the environment.

If you have a basement or live in an area prone to flooding you should test your sump pump once yearly. A properly working sump pump can save you thousands of dollars by preventing flooding inside your home.

Fireplaces owners should consider having theirs professionally inspected once a year, preferably before any season where you know you’ll be using it more. Because sediment build up can occur in your chimney and potentially cause damaging fires, it’s important to make sure yours is in great condition.

Lastly, go around the exterior of your home and touch up any paint that may be worn or thin. While not a huge problem structurally it can seriously improve the curb appeal and your neighbors will definitely appreciate it!

So, there you have it! A few items for you to create your monthly and yearly home maintenance calendar. While there are a lot of other things you can add to these calendars, this should give you a great starting point to get this off the ground!