Some home maintenance tasks are the same every month. Others are specific to a season — the things you need to do once, at the right time of year, to protect your home before conditions change.
Here's the full seasonal breakdown.
Spring maintenance checklist
Spring is inspection season. After winter, you want to assess any damage done by cold, ice, and moisture before you seal anything up.
Roof and gutters. Inspect from the ground with binoculars. Look for missing or lifted shingles, damaged flashing around chimney and vents, and granule loss (granules in your gutters means shingles are degrading). Clean gutters of any winter debris and confirm downspouts are directing water away from the foundation — at least 6 feet out.
Foundation inspection. Walk the perimeter. Look for new cracks or cracks that have widened. Check window wells for standing water or debris. Confirm the grading still slopes away from the house — frost heave can shift soil over winter.
HVAC tune-up (cooling). Before the first hot day, have your AC serviced. Replace the air filter, clean the outdoor condenser coils (a garden hose works), and confirm the refrigerant level is correct.
Outdoor faucets and irrigation. Turn on exterior hose bibs slowly and check for any drips inside (a pipe may have frozen and cracked). Start your irrigation system gradually and walk the zones to check for broken heads.
Deck and fence inspection. Check for wood rot, loose boards, and any fasteners that have popped up. Apply a fresh coat of sealant to bare wood if the water no longer beads on the surface.
Window and door re-caulking. Inspect exterior caulk around all windows, doors, and where siding meets trim. Re-caulk anything that's cracked, missing, or has pulled away.
Summer maintenance checklist
Check attic ventilation. Attics in summer can exceed 150°F without adequate ventilation, which drives up cooling costs and degrades roofing materials from the inside. Confirm soffit vents are clear and ridge vents or gable vents are unobstructed.
Dryer vent cleaning. Clean the full vent run to the exterior. Lint accumulation in dryer vents is a fire hazard.
Check garage door operation and lubrication. Test the auto-reverse function (place a 2x4 flat on the ground in the path of the door — it should reverse immediately on contact). Lubricate the rollers and hinges with a silicone-based lubricant.
Monitor the crawlspace or basement for humidity. Summer is when moisture problems show up in basements. If you're seeing condensation on pipes or walls, consider a dehumidifier. Sustained humidity above 60% creates conditions for mold growth.
Paint and exterior touch-ups. This is the window to address peeling paint, damaged trim, and any wood that needs attention before fall.
Fall maintenance checklist
Fall is the most important maintenance season for homeowners in cold climates.
HVAC tune-up (heating). Before you need your furnace, have it serviced. Replace the air filter, have the burners cleaned, and confirm the heat exchanger is intact.
Winterize irrigation. In freeze climates, irrigation systems must be blown out with compressed air before the first freeze. Residual water in lines freezes, expands, and cracks pipes and heads.
Disconnect and drain outdoor hoses. Even frost-free hose bibs can freeze if a hose is left connected — the hose traps water in the bib. Disconnect all hoses, drain them, and store inside.
Clean gutters (after leaf drop). The most effective gutter cleaning of the year happens after the last leaves fall. Blocked gutters in winter lead to ice dams.
Ice dam prevention. If your home has had ice dams in the past, address attic insulation and ventilation. Ice dams form when heat escaping through the roof melts snow, which then refreezes at the cold eaves.
Seal gaps and cracks in the building envelope. Focus on where pipes and wires penetrate walls, around the foundation sill, and at rim joists in the basement.
Stock emergency supplies. Ice melt, a good snow shovel, backup batteries and flashlights, and enough emergency supplies to be comfortable for 72 hours without power.
Winter maintenance checklist
Monitor for ice dams. After heavy snow and cold snaps, check the roofline for ice buildup at the eaves. A roof rake ($30–$60) lets you remove snow from the lower edge of the roof from the ground.
Check for frozen pipes during cold snaps. Pipes in exterior walls, garages, and crawlspaces are most vulnerable. If temperatures are forecast below 0°F, let interior faucets drip overnight.
Monitor your heating system. Keep a regular ear out for unusual sounds from the furnace or boiler. Check that all supply vents are open and unobstructed.
Clear snow and ice from around the foundation. Don't let snow pile against the house — it melts against the foundation and creates moisture problems.
Every one of these tasks has a different timing and urgency depending on where you live. Your climate — and your home's specific age and type — determines what your seasonal maintenance actually looks like. Connie builds your full personalized home maintenance checklist from your address.
Also read: the complete monthly maintenance checklist and the first-time homeowner's guide.