A home maintenance checklist is a short list of jobs done on a fixed schedule so that water, heat, damp air and pests do not quietly wreck a house. For a home that sits empty part of the year, the schedule matters more than the list: the water main, the water heater, the air conditioner’s run cycles, the sump pump and the smoke alarms all need a hand on them every few weeks, and most insurance policies limit cover after 30 to 60 days with nobody living there. The lists below are built to print; the table near the end covers leaving for 30 days or more.

$13,954per claim — the average paid on a home water damage or freezing claim, 2018–2022 (Insurance Information Institute, from ISO/Verisk data)

Why an empty house needs its own checklist

An empty house fails slowly, and nobody is there to hear it. A pinhole in the supply line behind a washing machine runs for six weeks instead of six minutes. A cabin closed up in July holds damp air until the closets grow a grey film. The EPA says wet materials dried within 24 to 48 hours usually do not grow mold; a house nobody visits for a month blows through that window every time. About 1.6 in every 100 insured homes files a water damage or freezing claim in a year, and the average claim paid was $13,954 over 2018–2022. Fire is rarer and far worse: $83,991 on average.

So the lists below carry the rows a generic printout skips: the water main, the water heater dial, running the heating and cooling on purpose, humidity in a closed house, pest entry, the sump pump, the dryer vent, the refrigerator, and the vacancy clause. If the house is a second home, a cabin or a parent’s house you look after from a distance, print the monthly list for whoever walks the house.

Monthly home maintenance checklist

Once a month, someone walks every room and runs everything. It takes under an hour.

Look at every ceiling, under every sink, behind each toilet and around the water heater for stains or a musty smell.
Run every tap and flush every toilet so the traps stay full and sewer gas stays down.
Read the water meter with every fixture off. A dial that moves is a leak.
Press the test button on every smoke and CO alarm. The U.S. Fire Administration says test monthly, replace the battery yearly, replace the whole alarm at 10 years.
Check the furnace or air handler filter. Carrier’s guidance is a 1-inch filter every 30 to 90 days, a 4-inch filter every 6 to 12 months; a rarely used vacation home can stretch that.
Run a full heating cycle and a full cooling cycle and listen for new noises.
Read the humidity on a cheap hygrometer. The EPA target is below 60 percent, ideally 30 to 50.
Pour a bucket of water into the sump pit and watch the pump start, empty it and stop.
Walk the outside: gutters, downspouts, foundation, doors, windows, droppings, gnaw marks. Mice get through a gap the width of a pencil, about a quarter inch.
Check the ice maker line, clean the dryer lint screen, and clear the mailbox. A stuffed mailbox tells the street nobody is home.

Spring home maintenance checklist

Spring is for finding what winter broke before the wet season tests it.

Look at the roof from the ground and from the attic: lifted shingles, daylight, damp insulation.
Clear gutters of winter debris and make sure downspouts carry water away from the foundation.
Test the sump pump before the melt and check its battery backup.
Turn water back on to outside faucets and check each one for a split from freezing.
Have the air conditioner serviced before the first hot week. The DOE’s cooling guide says a clean filter can cut the unit’s energy use by 5 to 15 percent and the evaporator coil should be checked every year.
Regrade soil that has settled toward the foundation; recaulk open joints.
Book a termite or pest inspection and seal new gaps with steel wool and caulk, as the CDC advises.

Summer home maintenance checklist

Summer is storm season and damp season; a closed house suffers from both.

Before storm season, clear the gutters again and trim branches that hang over the roof or the power line.
Keep the air conditioner or a dehumidifier running so humidity stays under the EPA’s 60 percent line. A house shut tight with the system off is where mold starts.
Check the washer, dishwasher and refrigerator supply hoses for bulges or rust.
Drain a few gallons from the water heater’s bottom valve to clear sediment.
Check the water heater dial. The DOE’s checklist says 120°F. The CPSC adds that 140°F water burns in six seconds, 150°F in two.

Fall home maintenance checklist

Fall is the season that decides whether winter costs you money.

Have the furnace or heat pump serviced before the first cold night, and put in a fresh filter.
Clear gutters after the leaves drop and before the first freeze. Ice in a full gutter lifts shingles.
Clean the dryer vent all the way to the outside. The U.S. Fire Administration counts about 2,900 home dryer fires a year, failure to clean the leading factor at 34 percent, and a January peak.
Replace smoke alarm batteries and read the manufacture date on the back of each alarm. Past 10 years, replace the unit. Carbon monoxide alarms carry their own end date; check it.
Drain and shut off outside faucets and irrigation; bring hoses in.
Seal gaps before the cold pushes mice indoors: under doors, around pipes and cables, at the foundation line.
If the house will sit cold, follow the winterize house checklist to shut off and drain properly.

Winter home maintenance checklist

In winter the only question that matters is whether the pipes stay above freezing.

Keep the heat on, or shut off the water and drain the system. The standard homeowners form excludes freezing damage unless you used reasonable care to maintain heat or shut off the water and drain it.
In a hard cold snap, open cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls so warm air reaches the pipes.
Look for ice dams at the eaves and frost or wet insulation in the attic.
Check that the sump pump discharge line is not frozen shut.
After every storm, someone walks the house that day, not next week.

Once-a-year items

Water heater: full flush and a look at the anode rod. Tank heaters die from the inside.
Main water shutoff: turn it fully off and on once, so it turns when it has to.
Roof, septic and well pump: a proper look by someone who knows them.

What to do when leaving the house for 30 days or more

Thirty days is where a trip becomes an unoccupied house in the eyes of an insurer.

Item	Do this before you go	Why
Water main	Shut the main valve and open the lowest tap to drop the pressure. If a sprinkler system needs water on, fit a leak sensor that closes the valve.	The average water damage or freezing claim was $13,954.
Water heater	Gas: set to vacation or pilot. Electric: breaker off if the water is off. Never leave an electric heater powered with the tank drained.	A dry tank ruins the element.
Heating and cooling	Winter: heat on at a setting the insurer accepts; ask them what that is. Summer in a humid climate: air conditioner on so humidity stays under 60 percent.	The standard policy form excludes freezing damage without heat or a drained system.
Refrigerator	Under four weeks: leave it running. Longer: turn off the ice maker, shut the water supply to the fridge, empty it, unplug it and prop the doors open.	Whirlpool’s own vacation guidance warns of property damage if the water line is left on.
Dryer	Clean the lint screen, check the vent, unplug it.	Failure to clean is the leading factor in dryer fires (U.S. Fire Administration).
Smoke and CO alarms	Fresh batteries, test every unit, replace any past its date.	A dead battery is the same as no alarm (U.S. Fire Administration).
Insurer	Ask how many days makes the house vacant or unoccupied under this policy, and what changes then.	The Insurance Information Institute puts the usual clause at 30 to 60 consecutive days.
A regular check	Arrange a neighbour, family member or home watch service to walk the house on a fixed cadence with this list.	Every row above only works if someone notices when it fails.
Mail, lights, exterior	Hold the mail, put lamps on timers, clear the gutters before storm season.	The standard form stops covering vandalism after 60 consecutive days vacant.

The snowbird departure checklist goes room by room for a whole season away, and leaving a house empty covers the insurance side in depth.

Honest limit: this page cannot read your policy for you. Insurers define vacant and unoccupied differently, the day counts vary by company and state, and some policies drop water damage cover on an empty house while others only drop vandalism and glass. The only number that counts is the one in your own wording.

What skipping the list costs

What went wrong	What it cost or caused	Source
Water damage or freezing claim	$13,954 average paid, 2018–2022; 1.6 claims per 100 insured homes a year	Insurance Information Institute / ISO
Fire and lightning claim	$83,991 average paid, 2018–2022	Insurance Information Institute / ISO
Dryer vent not cleaned	About 2,900 home dryer fires a year, 5 deaths, 100 injuries, $35 million in property loss	U.S. Fire Administration
Wet materials left past 48 hours	Mold usually grows; past about 10 square feet the EPA says hire a professional	U.S. EPA
House vacant more than 60 consecutive days	Vandalism and glass breakage no longer covered under the standard homeowners form	ISO HO 00 03 form

Why a regular check is worth more than the list

Because the list only works when someone is there to run it. A supply line lets go on a Tuesday in February. If a neighbour walks through on Thursday, it is a wet floor and a plumber. If nobody walks through until April, it is the $13,954 claim, a mold job, and an argument with the insurer about whether the house counted as vacant. What a paid service checks on each visit is covered in home watch services.

Whoever does the check, give them one list and one place to put what they saw. House Matters keeps a free owner’s record for exactly this: the checklist, the keys and who holds them, stays, supplies, upkeep and a ledger, and when a caretaker checks the house their visit report, with a photo on every item, lands in that same record. Details are on the homeowners page. A binder in the kitchen drawer does the same job; what matters is that the next person in knows what was checked and when.

Questions people ask

How often should a home maintenance checklist be done?

Monthly for the walk-through items and once a season for the rest. For a house that sits empty, the monthly walk is the one that cannot slip.

What temperature should a water heater be set to?

120°F, the U.S. Department of Energy’s checklist setting and the CPSC’s scald figure. At 140°F, water burns in six seconds.

Should the water be turned off when leaving a second home?

Yes, for any absence of 30 days or more, unless a sprinkler system needs it on. Shut the main, open a low tap, and switch off an electric water heater at the breaker so it cannot run dry.

How long can a house sit empty before insurance changes?

Usually 30 to 60 consecutive days, according to the Insurance Information Institute, and the standard homeowners form drops vandalism and glass cover after 60 days vacant. Vacant and unoccupied are different words in most policies, so ask which applies to a furnished house you intend to return to.

What is the difference between this list and a home watch checklist?

This list is what the owner schedules over a year. A home watch checklist is what a visitor checks in one visit to confirm nothing here has failed since last time.

Sources, read September 9, 2026

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