First-year homeowner maintenance checklist

Your first year as a homeowner is the year you set the rhythm of the next twenty. Lock in good habits early and the house quietly takes care of itself. Skip them and you spend year ten paying for the mistakes of year one. This is the checklist of what to do, and when, during that first year.

The first weekend

• Find and label the main shutoffs. Water main, gas, electrical panel. Make sure every adult in the house knows where they are.
• Test and date every smoke and CO detector. Replace any that test bad. Note install dates with a Sharpie on the back; they have a 10 year service life.
• Locate every shutoff valve under sinks and behind toilets. Turn each one a quarter turn and back to make sure they are not seized.
• Photograph the breaker panel with every breaker labeled. Save the photo somewhere you can find it from your phone.
• Find the HVAC filter slot and note the filter size. Order a multipack so you have spares.
• Locate the sump pump if you have one, and run a bucket of water to verify it works.

The first month

• Schedule an HVAC tune-up. You do not know how long ago the system was serviced. Start the clock fresh.
• Inspect the attic. Look for water stains on the underside of the roof deck, check insulation depth (most homes want R-49 or higher in the attic), and verify the bath fans and dryer vent actually exit through the roof or wall, not into the attic.
• Walk the exterior at the foundation. Look for cracks, settled grading that slopes toward the house, and where downspouts discharge.
• Run every fixture you have not used yet. Outside spigots, basement utility sinks, and that one tub guests will eventually use. Find any drips while you have time, not at 11pm on Christmas Eve.
• Set up an inventory of model numbers. Take photos of the data plates on the furnace, water heater, AC condenser, and major appliances. This makes ordering parts five years from now ten times faster.
• Start a service log. Whatever system you choose, app or notebook, start tracking what is in the house and what services it needs.

The first three months

• Have the chimney inspected and swept before using a fireplace for the first time, regardless of what the previous owner says about it.
• Pump the septic tank if it has been more than three years since the last pumping. The seller may not know. Have it inspected at the same time.
• Clean the gutters and add gutter mesh if you do not have it.
• Drain a couple of gallons from the water heater to flush sediment, and check the temperature setting. 120 degrees is the safety standard.
• Find and check the anode rod in the water heater. Replacing a depleted anode in your first month can buy years of tank life.
• Check water pressure at an outdoor spigot. Anything over 80 psi is too high and will damage fixtures over time. Buy a gauge for $10. Install a pressure-reducing valve if needed.

Before the first winter (if you bought in spring or summer)

• Have the heating system serviced before the first cold snap
• Drain and shut off outdoor spigots; install foam covers on freeze-prone ones
• Disconnect garden hoses and store them indoors
• Check weatherstripping on all exterior doors
• Reverse ceiling fans (clockwise on low pushes warm air down)
• Stock a winter kit: rock salt, snow shovel, ice melt, sand

Before the first summer (if you bought in fall or winter)

• Have the AC serviced before the first hot week
• Inspect window AC units (if you have them) before installing for the season
• Check the dryer vent for lint accumulation back to the exterior termination
• Walk the property and look at trees: any limbs over the roof, any dead wood, anything close to power lines
• Service the lawnmower and any outdoor equipment

Things you can put off until year two

Some maintenance is easy to do reactively if you have not yet built a service relationship with a contractor. Skip these in year one and put them on the year-two list:

• Power washing siding (only if it actually needs it; aggressive power washing damages siding)
• Repainting trim (unless there is active rot exposure)
• Driveway sealing (wait at least one full season)
• Tree pruning beyond removing dead branches over walkways

The single best habit to build early

Track every service. Date, provider, what was done, what it cost, any notes from the technician. The first time you have to find the plumber from three years ago, or prove to a buyer that you replaced the roof in 2024, the records will save you. The first year is when you can build the habit cheaply, before you have a backlog of things to remember.