Good, Better, Best: How to Stay Ahead of Home Maintenance

One of the biggest favors you can do for yourself as a homeowner is to stay a little ahead of your house.

Homes need maintenance. That’s just part of owning one.

Sometimes it’s something obvious, like a leaking faucet or a broken appliance. Other times, it’s something you might not notice until it has become a much bigger problem.

A little bit of attention at the right time can go a long way toward protecting your home and avoiding unnecessary repairs.

That’s the idea behind my Good / Better / Best series, where I’m sharing practical ways to maintain, document, and care for your home. Good is a starting point. Better makes things easier. Best creates a record that your future self will thank you for.

So, how do you stay ahead of home maintenance?

Good: Fix Problems When You Notice Them

The first step is simple: don't ignore the little things.

That dripping faucet. The loose gutter. The cracked caulk around a window. The strange noise coming from the furnace. The branch that's starting to rub against the roof.

None of these things necessarily need to become an emergency.

When you notice something that needs attention, take care of it or make a plan to have someone else take care of it.

It can be tempting to put off small repairs when there are a hundred other things competing for your attention. But small problems don't always stay small.

Better: Create a Seasonal Checklist

The next step is to stop relying entirely on what you happen to notice.

A seasonal home maintenance checklist gives you a reason to intentionally walk through your home a few times each year.

In Northwest Montana, this is particularly helpful because our homes experience some pretty significant seasonal changes.

Spring might be a good time to check the roof, gutters, drainage, exterior, and landscaping after winter. Summer can be a good opportunity to address exterior projects and inspect decks, siding, windows, and paint. Fall is the time to prepare for snow and freezing temperatures, while winter brings its own considerations for heating, ice, snow, and frozen pipes.

Your home's needs will depend on its age, construction, location, and systems, but having a seasonal rhythm helps make sure important tasks don't disappear from your radar.

Best: Create a Maintenance Calendar for Your Home

A checklist tells you what to do.

A maintenance calendar tells you when you did it.

That's the difference.

Keep a record of recurring maintenance specific to your home. Note when something was completed, what was done, who did the work, and when it should happen again.

Over time, this becomes a history of how your home has been cared for.

You might know when the furnace was last serviced, when the chimney was cleaned, when the septic system was inspected, when the exterior was last painted, or when the irrigation system was winterized.

And when something needs attention, you don't have to start from scratch.

You have a record.

Why I Think This Matters

I don't think homeownership should feel like an endless list of things you're doing wrong.

You don't have to maintain your house perfectly.

You just need to pay attention to it.

The goal isn't to spend every weekend working on your home. It's to develop a system that helps you notice things, plan for them, and keep small problems from becoming surprises.

And this becomes even more important as a home gets older.

A house in the Flathead Valley may have to contend with snow, freezing temperatures, temperature swings, moisture, wildfire smoke, and other environmental factors throughout the year. The specific maintenance needs will vary from home to home, but understanding what your particular house needs is an important part of taking care of it.

Good homeowners take care of problems when they notice them.

Better homeowners have a seasonal routine.

The best homeowners keep a record and use it to plan ahead.

A Homeowner's Guide for Your Home

I'm creating a personal, printed Homeowner's Guide for my clients to keep with their house.

It's designed to be customized for your specific home, with places to keep track of paint colors and finishes, appliances, major systems, maintenance, renovations, warranties, contractors, important contacts, and all those little details that are easy to forget.

The idea is that you don't fill it out once and put it on a shelf.

You keep adding to it as your home changes.

Because whether you're in a 1910 Craftsman in Kalispell, a newer home in Whitefish, a cabin near one of the Flathead Valley's lakes, or somewhere else in Northwest Montana, your house has its own history. Keeping track of that history makes it easier to care for your home today and can be incredibly useful years down the road.

Good homeowners take care of their homes.

Better homeowners keep track of what they've done.

The best homeowners leave themselves a record.

And that's what I'm hoping this guide will help you do.

If you'd like your own printed Homeowner's Guide, text me at (406) 607-0116 or email me at emilyadamsmt@kw.com.

Be sure to include your address so I can begin customizing the binder for your home.