A Seasonal Maintenance Calendar for New England Houses

New England is hard on houses. Freeze-thaw cycling, coastal humidity, heavy snow load, and a housing stock where the median build year predates modern insulation practice combine to make deferred maintenance more expensive here than in most of the country.

Almost everything below is cheaper to do than to skip.

Autumn — the most important season

Everything here is about getting ahead of the freeze.

Clean the gutters, twice — once when the leaves start and again after they finish. Clogged gutters are the leading contributor to ice dams, and ice dams cause interior water damage that insurance may treat as a maintenance failure.
Service the heating system before you need it. Annual service on a boiler or furnace, and a chimney inspection if you burn anything. Booking in September costs less and gets you a better time slot than an emergency call in January.
Shut off and drain exterior spigots, and disconnect hoses. A hose left attached is the classic cause of a burst pipe inside the wall.
Check the attic insulation and, more importantly, air sealing. Warm air leaking into a cold attic melts snow on the roof, which refreezes at the eaves. That is what an ice dam is. Insulation alone does not fix it; sealing the leaks does.
Have the roof looked at — flashing, valleys, and any lifted shingles — before snow load arrives.
Reverse ceiling fans to push warm air down. Trivial, free, works.

Winter — watch and respond

Keep heat above 55°F everywhere, including rooms you do not use. Pipes freeze in the parts of the house nobody visits.
Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls during a hard cold snap.
Clear snow from the roof edge if ice is forming, using a roof rake from the ground. Do not go on the roof.
Keep exhaust vents clear of snow — furnace, dryer, and any direct-vent appliance. A blocked vent is a carbon monoxide risk.
Test smoke and CO detectors. Massachusetts requires working detectors and a certificate at sale; test them because they save lives, and replace the units at the manufacturer's stated end of life.

Spring — assess the damage

Walk the exterior. Look for winter damage to the roof, siding, foundation, walkways and steps.
Check the foundation and basement for water intrusion, efflorescence and new cracks. Test the sump pump before the spring melt, not during it.
Regrade so water runs away from the house, and extend downspouts well clear of the foundation. Most wet-basement problems are drainage problems.
Service the air conditioning before the first hot week.
Have the septic system inspected and pumped if it is due — typically every two to three years. See Title 5 and septic systems for why this matters more here than most places.

Summer — the project window

Exterior painting, staining and any work that needs dry weather.
Trim trees away from the roof and the service drop. A branch over the roof is a winter problem being scheduled in advance.
Clean the dryer vent — a genuine fire risk and a common one.
Check and reseal the driveway if asphalt.
Look at windows and doors: failed seals, rotted sills, weatherstripping to replace before autumn.

The New England specifics

Oil tanks. If the house has one, know its age, whether it is above or below ground, and its condition. A leaking tank is an environmental remediation, not a repair, and buried tanks are a known liability in this housing stock.

Ice dams. Worth repeating because they cause more insured winter loss in this region than anything else. The fix is air sealing and ventilation in the attic, not heat cables on the roof.

Radon. Massachusetts has areas of elevated radon, and levels vary house to house rather than town to town. Test — the kits are inexpensive — and retest after any major work affecting the basement or foundation. More on radon testing here.

Lead paint. In a home built before 1978, assume lead paint until tested. Massachusetts law is strict, particularly where a child under six lives in the property. The Massachusetts lead law covers the obligations.

What is worth paying for

Do yourself: gutters if you are comfortable on a ladder, filters, detectors, drainage and grading, exterior inspection, trimming.

Pay someone: heating and cooling service, chimney, roof work, electrical, anything requiring a permit, septic, and any work on an oil tank.

A budget rule that holds up

Plan on roughly 1% to 3% of the home's value per year for maintenance and capital replacement, averaged over time. It will not be spent evenly — nothing for two years, then a roof — which is exactly why it should be set aside rather than hoped for.