FROM THE FAMILY BINDER KIT
Home Maintenance Checklist by Season: 11 Jobs, How Often, and Who Does Each One
Eleven jobs every house needs, ticked by season, with the last date each was done and who did it. And the filter sizes, so nobody has to guess at the store.
Start tonight, free: Household at a Glance in our free Home Binder Starter has Where the shutoffs are, for the water, gas and breaker panel. Get the starter ›
Most home maintenance isn't hard. The hard part is remembering it: when the furnace filter was last changed, whether the gutters got done in the fall, who serviced the air conditioner and whether you'd call them again.
A one-page checklist by season answers all of that. It is useful in January, when the year's jobs get planned, and for a grown child keeping an eye on a parent's house. Below is the Home Maintenance Schedule from our Family Binder Kit, job by job, and the Home Information page that goes with it.
Home
The eleven jobs, as printed on the page
The page asks three things of each job: Write how often each job needs doing, tick the seasons it falls in, and note the last date it was done. The columns are Job, How often, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Last done and Who does it.
Change furnace or AC filter
The filter box or the system's manual says how often. Write the size on the Home Information page so the right one gets bought.
Test smoke and CO alarms
Many people do it when the clocks change, which makes it a spring and fall job.
Clean gutters
Usually after the leaves come down, and again in spring if trees overhang the roof.
Service heating and Service air conditioning
Before the season that needs them: heating in fall, cooling in spring. Write the company in Who does it.
Flush water heater
Check the manual for how often. A date in Last done ends the "have we ever done that?" conversation.
Clean dryer vent and Clean fridge coils
Two easy ones to forget. Both fit in a winter Saturday.
Check roof and caulking
After winter, from the ground with binoculars if that's the safe way.
Shut off outdoor faucets
A fall job wherever it freezes. Note where the indoor shutoff valve is.
Clean chimney or fireplace
If you use it. Tick fall, before the first fire.
Fill it in this January
- Walk the house with the page. Basement, garage, outside. Read the stickers on the furnace, the water heater and the filters.
- Fill in How often first. From the manuals, the stickers or the person who services it. Leave a blank where you don't know.
- Tick the seasons. Then you can see the year at a glance: spring and fall are usually the busy ones.
- Write the Last done date you know. Even "fall 2025" is better than nothing. Next time it's done, write the exact date.
- Add your own jobs. The page has blank rows for the house's own needs: the sump pump, the well, the deck.
FREE · 10 PRINTABLE PAGES
Get the free Home Binder Starter
Ten pages to start the binder tonight: Emergency Contacts, Household at a Glance, the Medical One-Pager, a document inventory, a bills tracker, a password log and more. Sent to your inbox.
Home
The details that send you back to the store
The Home Information page holds the sizes, models and colors that are never at hand. Its tables are Filters, bulbs and batteries, Heating, cooling and water, Paint colors and Outside.
Furnace or AC filter, Fridge water filter and Smoke alarm batteries
Columns for Size or model, Where to buy and Last changed.
Furnace or boiler, Air conditioner or heat pump and Water heater
Brand and model, Year put in and Who services it. The year tells you when to start saving for a new one.
Paint colors
Room, color name and finish, for the touch-up after the holidays.
Roof put on (year)
With the roofer's name and phone, plus Septic or sewer and Well or city water.
Making it stick
- Keep the page by the furnace or in the binder. Wherever you'll see it when you change the filter.
- Write the date the moment it's done. In pen, in the Last done box. That's the whole habit.
- Note who you'd call again. The kit's Service Providers page is for Who to call for each job, and whether you'd hire them again.
- Plan the big ones in January. Write the month next to the jobs that need a company, and book them before the busy season starts.
- Do a quick check for a parent. On a visit, a glance at the Last done column shows what's slipped.
For a parent's house
If a parent lives alone, the schedule is a gentle way to help without taking over. Fill it in together on a visit. Then each time you're there, a look at the Last done column shows what's slipped, and the Who does it column shows who to call. Jobs on a ladder, like gutters and the roof, are the ones to hand to someone else.
Keep a copy for yourself, too. When the furnace stops on a January night, the Home Information page tells you its age and who services it, from your own kitchen.
Where it fits in the kit
The Home section of the Family Binder Kit has ten pages: the Maintenance Schedule, Home Information, Service Providers, Appliances & Warranties, three Home Inventory pages and Valuables for an insurance claim, Keys & Codes, and a Moving Checklist. Together they are the house manual you wish the last owner had left you.
