---
title: "Home Maintenance Schedule by Month | Porch Petal"
description: "Tick your home's features (gutters, furnace, AC, chimney, septic, deck) and get a month-by-month maintenance checklist to tick off and print."
url: https://porchpetal.homes/
---

# Seasonal home maintenance schedule

Tick what your home has. You get a month-by-month list of small jobs that keep it in good shape, with your ticks saved in this browser.

## How the schedule is put together

Every home gets the basics: testing smoke and carbon monoxide alarms each month and changing replaceable batteries once a year, as the U.S. Fire Administration advises, plus a few twice-yearly looks at the roof, sealant and draught strips. Each feature you tick adds its own jobs in the month they make most sense: gutters after spring blossom and again once the leaves are down, a heating check-up in autumn and a cooling one in spring (the timing ENERGY STAR suggests), the chimney inspected before the first fire.

Some jobs follow longer cycles. A septic tank should be inspected at least every three years and is typically pumped every three to five, so May's task is to check when it was last done. Private wells get an annual water test. Choose **Mild** winters to drop the frost jobs, such as draining outdoor taps; choose **Southern** hemisphere and every job moves six months.

Tick tasks as you finish them: ticks stay in this browser, so you can come back each month. Clear them at the start of a new year. Print gives a compact list, a few months to a page, for the fridge door or the garage wall.

## Sources

- U.S. Fire Administration, [Smoke alarms](https://www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention/home-fires/prepare-for-fire/smoke-alarms/): test monthly, replace batteries at least once a year, replace alarms every 10 years.
- ENERGY STAR, [Maintenance checklist](https://www.energystar.gov/saveathome/heating-cooling/maintenance-checklist): inspect air filters monthly; pre-season check-ups for cooling in spring and heating in fall.
- Chimney Safety Institute of America, [Homeowner resources](https://www.csia.org/homeowner-resources/), citing NFPA 211: chimneys, fireplaces and vents inspected at least once a year.
- US EPA, [How to care for your septic system](https://www.epa.gov/septic/how-care-your-septic-system): inspection at least every three years, pumping typically every three to five.
- US EPA, [Protect your home's water](https://www.epa.gov/privatewells/protect-your-homes-water): test private wells every year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and pH.

## More for the house

Know what you own, how old it is and when the filters are due.

- [Appliance life expectancy](https://porchpetal.homes/appliance-life-expectancy/): Typical lifespans of fridges, furnaces, water heaters and more, and how old yours are by comparison.
- [Home inventory list](https://porchpetal.homes/home-inventory-list/): Room-by-room list of belongings with values, serials and photos for insurance, kept on your device.
- [Filter change reminders](https://porchpetal.homes/filter-change-reminder/): Repeating calendar reminders for HVAC, water, range hood and fridge filters, as one .ics file.

## Recommended

Two free services for the online side of running a home.

Disposable email · no sign-up

### CleanTempMail

Getting quotes for a new boiler, a gutter clean or a replacement fridge often means handing your email to comparison sites and brochure downloads that keep writing for months. CleanTempMail gives you a free temporary inbox at once, with no sign-up, a random or custom address on hundreds of domains, and messages deleted automatically after 3 days.

[Open a temporary inbox](https://cleantempmail.com/)

Disposable cloud browser · free lookups

### WebTraceCheck

Hiring a tradesperson or buying parts from a website you found in a search? WebTraceCheck's free DNS and domain lookup shows the details behind a site's domain before you pay, and its disposable cloud browser opens unfamiliar links on an isolated desktop that is deleted after each session. Nothing to install, with free time every day.

[Try WebTraceCheck](https://webtracecheck.com/)

## Questions

**Do I have to do every job in that exact month?**

No. The months spread the work out and put seasonal jobs before the season. If you miss one, do it the next month; for anything weather-related, go by your own climate.

**Where are my ticks saved?**

In this browser's local storage, on this device only, along with the features you picked. Nothing is uploaded. Clear ticks starts the year again.

**Should I do these jobs myself?**

Many are quick checks anyone can do. Leave gas appliances, chimney sweeping, roof work and electrics to qualified professionals, and follow your appliance manuals.