12 Home Maintenance Tasks You Need to Do (& When)

Maintenance for us right now is all about preparing for winter. Screen doors are coming down. Hummingbird feeders are being put away. All of our outdoor furniture need to go into storage to be safe from winter weather. We just got our pellet stove cleaned out (VERY important) and all of our pellets ordered and stored. As far as we can be, we are ready for winter! Our Side by side already has the plow attached to the front of it, no more fun drives around now its time for it to be ready to work!

(This is a contributed post, for more information about my compensation please read my disclosure policy)

As a homeowner, you’ll already know you’ll have to look after your house. It’s a major responsibility, and you’ll need to put a decent amount of time and effort into various home maintenance tasks.

While you’ll already know that, you mightn’t be sure about when you need to do certain tasks. You might think you should do them whenever you think of them. That mightn’t be the best approach to take.

You could end up doing it too early, or it might be a little late to get started on it. It’s always worth making sure you’re doing them at the right times. Thankfully, this doesn’t need to be too complicated, and some tasks are better done during certain times of the year.

It’s worth diving into which home maintenance tasks you should get done during various seasons. That way, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

Fall Home Maintenance Tasks

Check the Heating Systems

With the temperatures dropping during the fall, you’ll inevitably start to rely on your heating system to stay warm. Everyone does it. Before you do, it’s worth making sure the heating system is in good shape. That way, you’ll avoid more than a few issues popping up when you’re actually using it.

This usually involves cleaning out various parts, replacing air filters, and more. It can be relatively complicated to get this done, so it could be worth hiring a professional to get it done for you. That way, you don’t need to worry about any problems you could miss by yourself.

Seal Windows & Doors

During the fall, the temperatures will start dropping, and you’ll start feeling a chill. Naturally, you wouldn’t want to feel that constantly in your home, but you wouldn’t want to have the heating on constantly, either. By making sure you seal the windows and doors, you shouldn’t have to worry about it.

There could be cracks and holes around your windows and doors, and these are always worth sealing up before it gets too cold. That way, you’ll avoid a breeze making its way into your home, bringing the temperature down. You can get this done yourself relatively quickly.

Test Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Detectors

If you’re a responsible homeowner, you’ll have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in your house. You shouldn’t just install these and leave it at that, though. You’ll have to make sure they’re working properly long-term, which means putting a little bit of time and effort into them.

Thankfully, this doesn’t take a lot of time and it isn’t complicated. Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are easy to test, and they’ll all have buttons on them specifically for this. If they’re not working, then it should just be a matter of replacing the batteries and they’ll be fine.

Winter Home Maintenance Tasks

Sort Out Dryer Exhausts

If you have a dryer in your home, then you’ll give it a bit of attention. That’s usually only when you need to use it, though. Give it more than that. Lint and similar dirt can build up inside it a lot more than you’d expect, which can then cause it to break down.

Nobody wants that to happen, and avoiding it can be quick and easy. Cleaning out the dryer exhaust duct is recommended to make sure it keeps running properly. It might be worth hiring a professional to help with this to make sure it’s done right.

Clean Interior Spaces

When the winter rolls around, you should have most of the exterior home maintenance tasks sorted out. While that’s always a great approach to take, it doesn’t mean you don’t have anything else to do during the winter. Instead, it’s worth focusing on the interiors as much as you can.

One of the best ways to do this is to give everything a deep clean. While everyone’s heard of spring cleaning, winter cleaning can be much more recommended. It helps you make sure your home is as comfortable as possible, and it might even help you relax even more.

Vacuum Refrigerator Coils

The refrigerator can always be one of the more neglected appliances in your home. At best, you could just give the inside of it a clean and leave it at that. It needs a bit more attention than that, and that’s especially true when it comes to your refrigerator coils.

These are responsible for pushing heat out of the fridge and making sure it stays cool inside. That only happens if it works properly. It can build up dust in time, which poses a fire risk and causes it to not work properly. By vacuuming it, you make sure that’s not an issue.

Spring Home Maintenance Tasks

Check the Roof

During the winter, your roof could put up with a decent bit of wear and tear. That’s why it’s always worth putting a little time and effort into it as spring starts. Take the time to look for any signs of damage so you can get it sorted out as quickly as possible.

A roofing professional is always recommended when it comes to any kind of large repairs. It’s just a matter of finding out when you have any problems to deal with in the first place. Check your roof at the start of spring to see if anything needs to be done.

Make Driveway Repairs

Like your roof, your driveway can take a beating during the year, especially during the winter months. During the spring, it’s worth taking a little bit of time to fix the driveway. There could be several of these you might want to address, with cracks being one of the more notable. It could even be uneven.

Take the time to fix these issues so they don’t get any worse. If left unchecked, your driveway could end up becoming unusable. That’s especially true if you use your driveway constantly and it goes through a lot of wear and tear.

Inspect the HVAC System

Spring always means the weather starts getting a little warmer, and you could find yourself reaching for your HVAC system. Before you do, though, make sure it’s actually working properly and that it’s well taken care of. More than a few things could be wrong with it, depending on how used it is.

These are usually relatively small, so there shouldn’t be too much to worry about. It’s worth getting a professional to inspect it for you, as they can identify any potential issues before they become too large. You’ll have greater peace of mind because of it.

Summer Home Maintenance Tasks

Flush the Hot Water Heater

Your hot water heater is used more during some months than others, and you mightn’t use it too much during the summer months. In time, that could lead to a bit of dirt or debris building up in the heater during the summer months. You mightn’t notice this when you’re not using it too often.

It’s only later on you could run into problems. By flushing the hot water heater during the summer months, you should prevent that build up and any associated damage. It’s relatively quick and easy to do, so there’s no reason not to get it done.

Seal the Decks

If you have a deck around your home, you could get quite a bit of use out of it during the summer months. Naturally, that means it’ll go through a decent bit of wear and tear. It’s worth making sure you take care of that, especially before winter or fall rolls around.

Sealing the decks again is one of the best things you can do. That way, you can prevent any kind of further damage once the bad weather comes around again. If you live somewhere with harsh weather during the winter, this is especially important.

Clean the Carpets

During the summer, you and your family will spend a lot of time outdoors enjoying the weather. While this is always great, it also means you could bring in a lot of dirt as you’re going in and out of your home. This can have a massive impact on your carpets, which will look dirtier and dirtier.

As the summer starts coming to a close, it’s worth going out of your way to clean the carpets. It’ll freshen them up and make sure they’re as clean as possible. Since it’ll still be relatively warm, the carpets should end up drying off much faster.

Wrapping Up

You’ll already know you’ll have to look after your home, and that it could take a decent bit of time and effort. Even figuring out when certain home maintenance tasks need to be done can seem a little complicated. It doesn’t have to be, though.

Getting some of them done during certain parts of the year can be more than enough to help. That way, you’ll make sure you’re not leaving them too late. You’ll end up making sure everything’s done when it’s supposed to be. There’ll be a lot less to worry about because of it.

(This is a contributed post, for more information about my compensation please read my disclosure policy)