Your Guide To Outdoor & Indoor Yearly Home Maintenance
As a homeowner, it’s your job to take care of your house all year long. From refreshing your home in spring to battening down the hatches in winter, there’s specific care your home needs in every season. While there are plenty of other yearly home maintenance checklists out there, this guide offers a detailed and comprehensive list to carry your home through every season. We’ll cover the month-to-month care your home needs, as well as the specific care required in each season. We’ve got your home covered from the inside out! Follow along with us below for your yearly home maintenance checklist.
Monthly Home Maintenance
Let’s kick things off by detailing the monthly care your home needs, regardless of the season. You should:
- Check all faucets and drains for potential clogs or debris. Clogs can build up and result in complications and water damage, so it’s important to remove clogs or build-up as soon as you find it.
- Clean dust from your furnace filter. This will regulate your home’s temperature and reduce your monthly energy bill.
- If necessary, add salt to your brine tank to soften water and reduce water hardness.
- Test your smoke alarms, carbon dioxide detectors and fire extinguishers to make sure all are in proper working condition.
- Inspect all electrical cords for signs of damage or wear.
- Inspect all indoor and outdoor vents—vacuuming vents once a month will reduce the chance of blockages.
- Clean your garbage disposal (click here for a natural DIY option!)
- Replace the filters in your HVAC every three months.
Finally, give your home a nice, deep clean at least once a month. You likely vacuum and dust your home once a week, but set aside time monthly to scrub the countertops, wipe down baseboards, vacuum underneath the furniture and more. Not only will this make you feel better, but it’ll refresh your home as well!
Fall Home Maintenance
Since autumn will be here before we know it, let’s start our seasonal home maintenance checklist with fall to-dos.
Indoor Home Maintenance
Inside, pay close attention to these specific chores:
- Service your central air system.
- Check window sills or air units in your windows for potential drafts. Caulk and repair them if you find any—you don’t want drafts of cool air making their way into your home!
- Service your furnace and HVAC. This is an important part of indoor home care in the fall, so be sure to maintain this yearly maintenance in the coming years!
- Clean your chimney. Before winter arrives, you’ll want to be sure your chimney is clear of debris, wildlife (read: bats) and mold. Yep, you read that right! Your chimney is one of the unknown places mold may be hiding in your home, so it’s important to check it regularly.
- Have your HVAC specialist take a look at your dryer vents, too. Lint is a major cause of house fires, so keeping your dryer vents lent-free is crucial to protecting your home.
- Complete any other miscellaneous home projects. Autumn is the perfect time to start (or finish) any projects you were hoping to get done before the end of the year.
Outdoor Home Maintenance
Here’s what you (or your local lawn care professional) should be doing outside your home and in your lawn in the fall:
- Rake any fallen leaves—this will likely be an ongoing project.
- Inspect your roof for damaged shingles or potential leaks.
- Check gutters for clogs. This could be fallen leaves or twigs, so remember to check your gutters frequently for blockages, especially in the fall.
- Repair any cracks in your driveway or walkways.
- Aerate and overseed your lawn.
- Apply a starter fertilizer and winterizer to prepare your lawn for winter.
Winter Home Maintenance
In the Carolinas, we never really know what to expect when winter comes around. Is it going to feel like an early spring? Or be the coldest season we’ve ever experienced? Who knows! Either way, here’s the specific indoor and outdoor care your home needs in the winter.
Indoor Home Maintenance
Both inside and out, your home is going to need less maintenance in the winter. However, you’ll need to:
- Cover your AC unit.
- Check your basement or crawl space for leaks. (Tip: crawl space encapsulation will help protect your crawl space and home from water leaks and excess moisture. Learn more about the importance of crawl space encapsulation here.)
- Keep a close eye on your pipes. Frozen pipes can cause some serious issues around your home, so it’s crucial that you check pipes in unheated areas of your home frequently throughout the winter. Help prevent frozen pipes with these tips and tricks.
- Stock up for potential power outages. Winter storms are unpredictable, and may leave you without power for quite some time. Make sure you have plenty of candles, flashlights (and batteries), canned food and water.
Outdoor Home Maintenance
Outside, you should:
- Inspect your roof, gutters and downspouts for damage, especially after a harsh winter storm.
- Be aware of ice dams. Ice dams are caused when ice accumulates on the eaves of your roof, potentially allowing moisture to seep into your home and damaging your gutters.
- In late winter, fertilize your lawn to prepare it for springtime growth.
- Apply a pre-emergent weed control and organic bio-nutrient. These will help refresh your lawn from winter and protect it against weed growth in the spring!
Did you know we offer a strategic Premium Lawn Care Package that protects and nourishes your lawn all year long? From spring to winter, our lawn experts have you covered. Download our guide below to learn more about the benefits of professional yearly lawn care!
Spring Home Maintenance
To recover from winter, springtime care is some of the most important in terms of home maintenance. Here’s every task to complete around your home in spring.
Indoor Home Maintenance
Inside your home, you’ll need to tend to these spring cleaning to-dos:
- Check your pipes for leaks and drips.
- Make sure your sump pump is draining correctly. You know what they say about spring showers!
- Evaluate your chimney again. Winter storms and harsh weather can cause damage to your chimney, so be sure it’s still in good shape.
- Declutter any leftover boxes, bags and items that may be left over from the holiday season.
- Clean all windows and doors—they’re going to need it.
- Clean, keep cleaning and then clean some more! Your home is going to need some serious tending to after winter is over, and spring is the perfect time to restore your home back in tip-top shape.
- Change the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Tip: Choose a specific day of the year (one that you’ll remember such as a birthday or holiday) and make it your annual day to change the batteries in your detectors. That way, you can make sure the batteries get changed at least once a year!
Outdoor Home Maintenance
Take a deep breath, we’re not done yet! Here’s what your home will need outside come springtime:
- Rake up any fallen leaves and twigs.
- Apply a layer of mulch to your flower beds to keep weeds at bay.
- Trim trees and shrubs, especially if they are touching your home. Tree limbs are the perfect passageway for pests like squirrels to scurry into your attic!
- Apply pre- and post-emergent weed control.
- Measure the pH of your soil—if your soil is too acidic, you may need a lime application.
- Spring is the time to prevent common lawn diseases, too. We suggest working with your lawn services provider to establish a plan for lawn disease prevention.
- Unfortunately, springtime also means pests. Protect your lawn and home from pests with these organic pest control techniques.
- Fertilize your lawn once again to give it the nutrients it needs to grow.
- Spruce up the outside of your home to amp up your curb appeal and give your home the refreshing look it deserves. Repaint, plant fresh flowers, install new windows… The world is your oyster!
- Check the outside of your home thoroughly (the roof, siding, gutters, windows, etc.) for signs of damage. If something needs to be repaired, fix it immediately or contact a local professional to assist you.
- Run all outdoor faucets to make sure there are no leaks or damages.
- Give your house a bath. Wash the windows, scrub the shutters and spray down all sides of your home to wash away any leftover grime from winter.
Summer Home Maintenance
Last but certainly not least, summer. Hope you’re not too worn out from springtime home maintenance, because there’s plenty to keep you busy in summer, too!
Indoor Home Maintenance
Inside your home, you’ll want to take care of these maintenance chores:
- Clean your kitchen exhaust fan filter.
- Clean and empty appliance drip trays. Yet another unexpected place mold may be hiding!
- Oil your garage door opener and chain, your garage door and all hinges.
- Reverse the setting on your ceiling fans to counterclockwise. This will push the air down and keep your home cool.
- Contact a pest control expert to pest-proof your home.
Outdoor Home Maintenance
- Take care of any pruning in your lawn or garden.
- Open and clean your pool (if you have one).
- Complete some DIY outdoor designs to refresh your backyard.
- Water your plants and lawn, or install a sprinkler system to do it for you.
- Fertilize your lawn.
- Apply additional organic bio-nutrient and post-emergent weed control.
And there you have it! This yearly home maintenance guide has everything your home needs throughout the year to keep it healthy and functioning. If you’re looking for more advice, feel free to contact us! And while we have plenty of free resources to help you maintain your home throughout the seasons, one important area of yearly home maintenance we can help with is lawn care. Killingsworth’s home and lawn services are unmatchable. Schedule a service with us today!
