The Seasonal Home Checklist: What to Do in Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter

Winter is hard on a house. Spring is when you find out what it did.

• Look at the roof from the ground for loose, cracked, or missing shingles after winter storms. Binoculars work; you do not need to climb.
• Clear gutters and downspouts of twigs and debris, and check that the downspouts carry water several feet away from the foundation.
• Replace the indoor air filter, clear leaves and grass from around the outdoor air conditioning unit so air can flow freely, and book the annual tune-up before the first hot week.
• Walk the foundation. Look for new cracks, and make sure the soil slopes gently away from the house so rain runs off instead of pooling.
• Turn the outdoor water back on, reconnect hoses, and watch each spigot for a minute. A slow drip, or a wet spot on the wall inside, can mean a pipe cracked over the winter.
• Clean window and door screens and patch any tears before bug season.
• Check the caulk and paint around windows, doors, and siding. Cracked sealant and peeling paint are where rain gets in.

Summer is about the quiet problems: slow leaks, trapped heat, and things that move in when the weather is warm.

• Check for leaks at the supply lines under the kitchen and bathroom sinks, around toilet bases, and near the water heater. Look for drips, condensation, or corrosion.
• Clean the dryer duct from the back of the machine to the outside vent, and clean the range hood filters. Check that the outside dampers open and close.
• Sweep or wash decks, patios, and walkways. Check wood for rot, splinters, and loose railings. If water no longer beads on the wood, it is time to seal or stain.
• Make sure the attic vents at the soffits, gables, or ridge are not blocked by insulation or debris. Trapped heat and moisture shorten a roof's life.
• Walk the outside of the house and look at the foundation, crawlspace vents, and eaves for termite tubes, ant trails, or wasp nests.
• Test the GFCI outlets in bathrooms, the kitchen, the garage, and outdoors: press Test, confirm the power cuts off, then press Reset.

Everything on this list is easier in October than in the first cold snap.

• Replace the furnace or heat pump filter, and have a technician check the burners, heat exchanger, and ignition before the first cold night.
• Disconnect, drain, and store garden hoses. Shut the indoor valves that feed outdoor faucets, open the spigots to drain them, and have any underground sprinkler system blown out.
• Clean the gutters one more time after most of the leaves are down. Clogged gutters are a common cause of winter ice dams.
• Check the weatherstripping on exterior doors and windows, replace worn door sweeps, and caulk drafty joints around trim.
• Have a certified chimney sweep inspect and clean a wood-burning fireplace. For a gas fireplace, clean out dust and test the pilot and burner.
• Test every smoke and carbon monoxide alarm and replace the backup batteries. Check the manufacture date on the back: smoke alarms are meant to be replaced 10 years after that date, and many carbon monoxide alarms sooner.

Cold weather finds the weak spots. A few habits keep pipes, roofs, and air quality out of trouble.

• During a hard freeze, keep the garage door closed, open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls so warm air reaches the pipes, and let a faucet drip slightly overnight.
• Keep indoor humidity between 30 and 50 percent. Higher invites condensation and mold; lower dries out wood floors and trim. A small humidity meter tells you where you stand.
• Drain a few gallons from the water heater's bottom valve to flush out sediment. Follow the manual; it takes about ten minutes.
• Pour a bucket of water into the sump pit to confirm the pump turns on and drains, and look around the basement or crawlspace for damp spots.
• Vacuum the refrigerator's condenser coils, behind or underneath the unit, to cut energy use and help it last.
• After a heavy snow, look for icicles along the eaves. They often mean heat is escaping into the attic and an ice dam is forming behind them.

Here is the insurance side of all this. Homeowners policies are written for sudden, accidental events. Damage that builds up over time, like a leak that dripped inside a wall for months or a roof that simply wore out, is often handled very differently, and sometimes not at all. That is the real reason this list matters: the maintenance you do each season is what keeps a problem in the sudden-and-accidental column.

The same goes for your roof. Its age and condition can change how a policy pays for it, and that change is often printed in an endorsement most people never read. CoverageDecoder can read your policy and turn what it finds into questions ready for your licensed insurance agent.