Maintenance

The Texas Home Maintenance Calendar

Maintenance lists written for northern climates waste your time on snow prep and skip what actually kills Texas homes: heat, clay soil, hard water, and sudden storms. Here is the statewide version.

Spring (February – April): storm-proof and shade-proof

• Service the AC before the first 95°F week — by May, every tech from Houston to El Paso is booked.
• Clean gutters and check downspout extensions: spring brings violent rains and hail, and clay soil sheds water toward the slab if grading is off.
• Inspect roof shingles and vent boots after each hail run — common across the Dallas-Fort Worth and Hill Country corridors — and photograph anything suspicious the same week.
• Re-caulk south- and west-facing windows — last summer's sun likely split the old bead.
• Check fence posts before spring winds finish what rot started.

Summer (May – September): defend against the heat

• Water the foundation. It sounds strange outside Texas, but keeping clay soil moisture even with soaker hoses placed around the slab prevents the shrink-swell cycling that cracks slabs and sticks doors.
• Swap AC filters monthly — systems here run ten-plus hours a day, northern 90-day rules do not apply.
• Flush the water heater; much of Texas runs notably hard water that builds sediment fast.
• Check window screens and weatherstripping — cool air leaking out costs real money at these temperatures.
• Inspect irrigation heads early morning; a broken head in July wastes water you are paying drought rates for.

Fall (October – November): the catch-up season

• This is prime project weather — exterior paint, deck sealing, and fence repair all cure better at 75°F than 105°F.
• Clean gutters again after the live oaks drop (they shed in spring too, because Texas).
• Service the heater before the first norther; yes, you will use it.
• Insulate exposed exterior pipes and hose bibs now, not the night of the freeze warning when stores sell out.
• Reset smoke detector batteries with the time change.

Winter (December – January): freeze drills and indoor work

• Know your freeze plan: which faucets drip, where the main shutoff is, how to wrap the backflow preventer. Hard freezes hit the whole state unevenly — and the 2021 statewide freeze proved how much damage they do when a region is unprepared.
• Use the indoor season for the small stuff: re-grout the shower, fix sticking doors while the clay is stable, patch and paint.
• Check attic insulation depth while temperatures make attic work survivable.

The meta-tip: batch it

Almost every item above is a small job with a visit-minimum problem — not worth a service call alone, perfect in a bundle. Keep a running list on the fridge or your phone, and once a season hand the whole thing to one pro in one visit. You pay one trip charge, the house gets ahead of the climate, and the ladder stays in the garage.

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