The Small Jobs That Keep
the Big Bills Away

📝 How to Use This List

Now I am going to be dull for a page, and I would take it kindly if you let me.

A list like this is the one place on this whole site where a clever sentence does nobody any good. You are not going to read it twice for the pleasure of the prose. You are going to tick boxes on it with a pencil, standing in a hallway, so it is written for that.

Two marks to know. Anything marked ⚠️ Two people, or hire it out means a ladder, a roof, heavy lifting, or a tight space, and none of those are jobs for one person past fifty. Anything marked ⚠️ A job for a professional means somebody with a license and the right tools.

🖨️ Print This List

The reasons behind all of it are on the page about the bills that come after the mortgage. Then we can go back to talking like people.

📅 Every Month

• Test every smoke alarm. Press the button and hold it until it sounds (U.S. Fire Administration).
• Test every carbon monoxide alarm the same way (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
• Press the TEST button on each GFCI outlet, the ones in the kitchen, bathrooms, garage and outside, then press RESET (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
• Look under every sink with a flashlight. Feel the cabinet floor. Wet, soft or swollen means a slow leak at the drain or the water lines (NC State Extension).
• Look at the base of every toilet for water, and at the floor around it for staining.
• Clean the dryer lint filter every time you run the dryer, not just once a month (U.S. Fire Administration).

🍂 Every Three Months, and Twice a Year

Every three months

• Drain about a quart from the water heater to carry off the sediment, following the maker’s directions (U.S. Department of Energy). See the water heater section below before you do it the first time.
• Check the furnace or air conditioner filter and change it on the schedule printed on the filter or in your system’s manual.

Spring and fall

• Go up into the attic with a good flashlight, from a sturdy step ladder at the hatch, with somebody else at home. Look for wet insulation, dark stains on the underside of the roof boards, and drip lines down the rafters. Do it again after any big storm. ⚠️ Two people, or hire it out
• Look at the roof from the yard with a pair of binoculars: missing or lifted shingles, and the metal flashing around the chimney and vents.
• Clean the gutters, at least twice a year, and more where storms are frequent. Do not climb onto the roof to do it, and do not do ladder work when there is rain or ice about (West Virginia University Extension). A long gutter wand used from the ground avoids the ladder altogether. ⚠️ Two people, or hire it out
• Check that every downspout carries water well away from the house: six to ten feet out from the foundation (University of Georgia Extension).
• Walk around the house and look at the ground. It should slope away from the foundation, about six inches of fall over six to ten feet (University of Georgia Extension).
• Go through the whole house and yard and write down anything new: a crack, a stain, a door that sticks, a soft spot in a floor (NC State Extension).

🗓️ Once a Year

Inside the house

• Take hold of each toilet bowl and try to rock it gently. If it moves, or the floor right at the base feels soft, the wax ring underneath has failed and the subfloor may be getting wet. Replace the wax ring now, not later. The plumbing page shows the job. ⚠️ Two people, or hire it out
• Look over the caulk and grout around every tub and shower, and repair what has cracked or come loose (University of Georgia Extension).
• Find the main water shutoff and every shutoff valve under the sinks and behind the toilets, and make sure you can still turn them. Look for leaks at each one (NC State Extension). The shutoffs page shows where to look.
• Test the water heater’s temperature and pressure relief valve, following the manufacturer’s instructions (University of Maryland Extension). ⚠️ A job for a professional the first time, if you have never done it.
• Have the heating system and chimney looked at before the cold comes (U.S. Fire Administration). Ask the service technician to check that the air conditioner’s condensate drain line is clear, too. ⚠️ A job for a professional

Under the house

• Look in the crawlspace or basement. Standing water, a musty smell, water wicking up out of the soil, and wood that is dark, soft or crumbling along the sill are all reasons to call somebody. Write down what you see, so next year you can tell whether anything changed (Oregon State University Extension). If you cannot get into a crawlspace any more, pay somebody to do this one. ⚠️ Two people, or hire it out
• New cracks in the walls upstairs, or cracks that keep coming back, are worth having looked at. In an old house they can mean something underneath has moved.

In the South and Southeast

• Have a termite inspection every year. Termite damage can go unseen for years, and homeowners insurance does not cover it (UF/IFAS Extension; Insurance Information Institute). ⚠️ A job for a professional

Outside

• Look up at the trees over the house. Dead limbs over the roof come down in the first big storm. Cutting them is never a one-person job. ⚠️ A job for a professional
• Look at the caulk around the windows and doors from the outside, and fill what has cracked.

⏳ Every Few Years

• Have the water heater’s anode rod checked every three to four years, and replaced as needed (University of Georgia Extension). It is the part that keeps the tank from rusting through. ⚠️ A job for a professional
• Replace the rubber washing machine hoses every three to five years, with braided stainless steel (IBHS).
• Have the septic system inspected at least every three years, and the tank pumped typically every three to five (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). Keep cars and heavy equipment off the drainfield. ⚠️ A job for a professional
• Replace every smoke alarm when it is 10 years old (U.S. Fire Administration). The date is printed on the back.
• Replace carbon monoxide alarms by the date the manufacturer gives (Consumer Product Safety Commission). The U.S. Fire Administration’s checklist for older adults asks whether they are less than seven years old (U.S. Fire Administration).
• Know how old the water heater is. A storage water heater lasts about 10 to 15 years (U.S. Department of Energy). Past that, plan the replacement on your own schedule rather than its.

Both figures are the EPA’s, and prices vary by place and rise over time (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency).

❄️ Before the Cold Comes

• Disconnect the garden hoses from the outside faucets and cover the faucets before the first freeze. The whole subject has its own page: frozen pipes.
• Test the sump pump, if you have one, before the wet season.

In snow country: ice dams

If you see icicles hanging heavy off the edge of the roof and water stains on the ceiling near the outside walls, that may be an ice dam. Heat from the house warms the upper part of the roof, the snow there melts, and the water freezes again at the cold edge, where it backs up under the shingles (University of Minnesota Extension).

The real fix is inside the house, not on the roof: seal the places where warm air gets into the attic, then add insulation (University of Minnesota Extension).

🔥 A Word About the Water Heater

When I did this work, I flushed water heaters once a year, and in my experience it puts years on a tank. The Department of Energy’s advice is to drain about a quart every three months to clear the sediment that settles in the bottom (U.S. Department of Energy). Either one is a great deal better than never.

The sediment is the thing. It sits on the bottom of the tank, between the burner or the element and the water, and the heater works harder every year to push heat through it.

But if a tank has gone ten years without ever being drained, do not make yourself the first one to open that valve. Have a plumber do it once and show you how. After that it is your job, and it is an easy one.

💧 Where to Put Leak Sensors

A leak sensor sits on the floor and sends an alert when it gets wet. Many alarm systems can take them, and they are among the cheapest things on this page. Put one in each of these places:

• Behind each toilet
• Beside the water heater
• Under the kitchen sink, and the bathroom sinks
• Beside the washing machine
• Under or beside the dishwasher
• Behind the refrigerator, if it has an ice maker or water line
• Under the indoor unit of the air conditioner, or in its drain pan
• Beside the sump pump, if you have one

Choose the kind that sends an alert to your phone. A sensor that only beeps helps only when somebody is home to hear it. The alarm system page covers the systems themselves.

⚡ Why This Belongs on the Fifty List

At fifty, every job on this list is an afternoon and a few dollars, and you can do most of them yourself.

At seventy-five, the same jobs are still an afternoon and a few dollars. What has changed is who can climb, who can crawl, and what the man who comes out to do it charges by then.

So learn the list while you can still do the whole of it, and find the people for the parts you will hand off later: the chimney sweep, the plumber, the fellow with the long ladder. A name on the refrigerator is worth more than a search in a hurry.

And if you are the one in your house who notices things, this list is also the thing you leave for whoever comes after you.

❓ Questions People Actually Ask

How often should I flush my water heater?

The Department of Energy suggests draining about a quart from the tank every three months to clear sediment. Follow your water heater’s own instructions. If the tank has never been drained in many years, have a plumber do it the first time.

How often should a dryer vent be cleaned?

Clean the lint filter every load, and have the vent pipe cleaned out at least once a year. That is the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s advice. Failure to clean is the leading factor in home dryer fires.

How often should a chimney be cleaned and inspected?

At least once a year, by a professional. That is the U.S. Fire Administration’s advice. Creosote builds up in a chimney that is used and not swept, and it can catch fire.

How often should a septic tank be pumped?

Typically every three to five years. The EPA says a household system should be inspected at least every three years by a septic professional, and that routine pumping costs far less than replacing a failed system.

How often should smoke alarms be tested and replaced?

Test them every month and replace the whole alarm every 10 years. That is the U.S. Fire Administration’s advice. Carbon monoxide alarms should be tested monthly too, and replaced by the date the manufacturer gives.

📚 Where This Comes From

Every interval on this page is linked where it appears, and every source is listed again here. This page names no contractor, manufacturer or service company.

• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms — U.S. Fire Administration, Smoke Alarms; Consumer Product Safety Commission, CO Alarms; U.S. Fire Administration, Fire Safety Checklist for Caregivers of Older Adults
• GFCI testing — Consumer Product Safety Commission, Home Electrical Safety Checklist
• Dryer vents — U.S. Fire Administration, Clothes Dryer Fire Safety; Consumer Product Safety Commission, March 2023 release
• Chimneys and heating equipment — U.S. Fire Administration, Heating Fire Safety
• Water heaters — U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Saver Guide; U.S. Department of Energy, Which Water Heater Is Right for You?; University of Georgia Extension, Energy-Efficient Water Heating; University of Maryland Extension, Home Energy: Water Heating
• Washing machine hoses — IBHS, How to Prevent Interior Water Damage from Plumbing and Appliances
• Leaks, caulk, gutters, downspouts and grading — University of Georgia Extension, Mold and Moisture Home Inspection Checklist; NC State Extension, Preventative Home Maintenance; West Virginia University Extension, Gutter Safety
• Crawlspaces — Oregon State University Extension, Annual home inspection for moisture, insects helps prevent costly damage
• Termites — UF/IFAS Extension, Termite Prevention and Control; Insurance Information Institute, Which disasters are covered by homeowners insurance?
• Septic systems — U.S. EPA, How to Care for Your Septic System; U.S. EPA, Why Maintain Your Septic System
• Ice dams — University of Minnesota Extension, Dealing with and preventing ice dams