Home Maintenance

The house side of the site. Same rules as the yard: every frequency and every measurement comes from a published source, and each guide says plainly where the job stops being yours.

Guides

• What USDA zone am I in? What climate zone is my house?Year-roundPlant hardiness for the yard, DOE/IECC zones for the building — two maps, two lookups, and how our twelve regions fit.
• Do I have a septic tank or a sewer?Year-roundThree ways to find out which system serves your home, plus the inspection schedule and pump-out interval from EPA and university extension sources.
• Water heater: the one setting worth checking todayYear-roundSet it to 120°F. CPSC's burn-time numbers show exactly what the difference buys you.
• Smoke and CO alarms: test monthly, replace at ten yearsYear-roundWhere alarms go, how often to test, and the expiry date on the back that almost nobody checks.
• HVAC filters: how often to change one, and which one to buyYear-roundCheck monthly and change by three months at the latest, buy MERV 13 if the system takes it, and read the nominal size off the old frame.
• Heating tune-up: schedule it in the fall, not on the first cold nightFallENERGY STAR puts the heating check-up in fall before no-heat calls book every contractor in town. What the visit covers and what stays a pro job.
• Gutter cleaning: how often, and where the water should end upFallThe frequency depends on what is over your roof, and the discharge distance decides whether your foundation stays dry.
• Shut off outdoor faucets before the first freezeFallDisconnect the hose, close the indoor shutoff, drain the line. Frost-proof faucets still split when a hose is left on.
• Dryer vent cleaning: the lint screen is every load, the duct is periodicYear-roundClean the screen each load, the exhaust duct on an interval, and check the outside vent while the dryer runs.
• Sump pump testing: how often, how to check it, and when to call a proSpringFEMA’s once-a-year assessment, NDSU/SDSU pre-season checks, bucket/float test, and CDC electrical STOP rules — no invented quarterly calendar.
• Weatherstripping before heating season: doors, windows, and the attic hatchFallENERGY STAR air sealing plus DOE weatherstripping — savings figures are for seal+insulate, not tape alone.
• Chimney inspection before the first fire: NFPA 211, creosote, and COFallAnnual inspection (NFPA 211 via CSIA), creosote thresholds, and a hard STOP on carbon monoxide and chimney fires. No invented sweep prices.
• Keep indoor pipes from freezing — and thaw them without a flameWinterRed Cross 55°F floor, drip exposed lines, CPSC heat-tape fire caveat, and never a torch. Outdoor bibs stay on the faucet guide.
• Ice dams: heat loss, not a roof rake, is the real problemWinterWarm roof + cold eaves (UMN). Prevention is attic air sealing and insulation (ENERGY STAR R-values) — a rake only moves snow.
• Water heater lifespan: tank vs tankless, and when to replaceYear-roundDOE 10–15 years for tanks, 20+ for tankless; anode and flush intervals from UGA and AHRI. The 120°F scald setting is a different page.

Spring-side jobs — bed mulch, sprinkler startup, warm-season seeding — land when the frost window opens. We publish a few good guides a week, not hundreds.