Your First Year in a New Home: A Season-by-Season Maintenance Checklist for Lake Anna

We have written a full maintenance guide for new homeowners, and a post on how construction and maintenance connect. Both are worth reading once. This is the version you keep. It is the same set of tasks, organized by season, so you know what to do and roughly when during your first year in the house.

A quick note on what is not here. Because of how we build, a few things most homeowners deal with should not be on your list: yearly termite soil treatments (Bora-Care is in the wood itself), squeaky floors (the AdvanTech subfloor system is installed to the manufacturer’s squeak-free guarantee), and smoke detector batteries for a long while (they are 10-year lithium). A good build tends to shorten the checklist. What is left is mostly about keeping water and air moving the right way.

Every Month, All Year

• Change the air filters. In our view this is the most important task on the list. Look for the return vents with small latches (the ones with four screws do not have filters), drop the cover, note the arrow, swap in the same size with the arrow pointing toward the vent. Bedroom ceiling returns, if you have them, are on the same 30-day schedule. We recommend basic filters over the expensive HEPA-style ones unless someone in the house has severe allergies; the high-end ones tend to clog faster. If the house is a rental or a weekend place, basic filters also make it cheap to have someone swap them for you.
• Leave the HVAC fan running. Pick a temperature you like and let it hold. A tight house relies on the fan moving air to manage moisture, and in our experience a steady setting is easier on the system than turning it up and down.
• Run bath fans until the mirror clears. Every shower. Cutting it short is often how mildew starts in corners and on caulk.

Fall (October is the Trigger)

This is the busiest season on the list. Our winters go through freeze and thaw cycles, which can be hard on anything that holds water.

• Winterize the hose bibs. Take hoses and attachments off every exterior faucet. Inside, find the labeled shut-off valve for each one and turn it perpendicular to the pipe (that is off). Go back outside, open the faucet for a minute to drain it, close it. Our hose bibs are frost-free, but this is the second layer of protection, and it takes five minutes.
• Clear the daylight drains. Your HVAC and water heater condensation runs to floor drains that exit through a small PVC pipe near the foundation. After a season of mowing, grass clippings and dirt can block the opening. Find the pipe, clear it, done. If you ever see water backing up around a basement floor drain, this is often the reason.
• Clean the gutter outlets. We use commercial-sized gutters and install cleanout access at the bottom of the downspouts. Check them for leaves and shingle granules. Most people hire out the gutters themselves because of the heights; the cleanouts you can check from the ground.
• Check the sediment filter. There is a large one ahead of your water system. Shut the ball valves on either side, press the relief button on top, unscrew the housing with a bucket underneath, and look. Rinse or replace, check the O-ring for grit, reassemble, reopen the valves, and press the relief button again to purge air. If your water pressure drops, it is worth checking here before calling a plumber.
• Test the smoke detectors. Press and hold the button on any one; they are interconnected, so all of them should respond. Doing it when the clocks change, fall and spring, is one easy way to remember.

Winter

Mostly a season for keeping an eye on things.

• Watch the bathroom caulk. If you see mildew starting on the caulk lines, run the bath fans longer. The caulk will probably need cleaning or refreshing every couple of years either way.
• Keep the attic and knee-wall spaces in mind. They are not climate-controlled, so anything stored back there gets the winter cold and the summer heat.
• Know where the gas shut-offs are. There are three levels: at the tank, at the house exterior, and at each appliance. They are labeled. You probably will not need them, but it helps to know where they are before a technician asks.

Spring

• Reopen the hose bibs. Reverse the fall procedure: open the interior shut-off, then check the exterior faucet.
• Test the smoke detectors again.
• Walk the exterior after the first heavy rains. Look for water pooling against the foundation, any spot where the final grade has washed, and whether the gutters are discharging where they should. Some erosion after final grade is fairly common in a wet spring, and it is usually easier to deal with early.
• Water the lawn. We test the soil and amend it before seeding, but the grass needs sun and water after that, and that part is yours. If new grass sprouts and then dies, watering is usually the reason.
• Clean the windows while they are easy. Casements crank open to 90 degrees. Double-hungs tilt in: unlock both latches, lift slightly, squeeze the release tabs, and tilt the sash toward you. Hold the tabs when you push it back and listen for the snap. If it fights you, stop and call rather than force it.

Summer

Peak humidity and peak condensation.

• Check the daylight drains again. Summer tends to be when the HVAC produces the most condensation, so a blocked pipe is likely to show up now.
• Clean the range hood filters. They pop out (look for the latches) and go in the dishwasher. Over-the-range microwaves have them too.
• Keep the fan running and the setting steady. This is the season people are tempted to shut the system off when they leave for a weekend. In a humid climate like ours, that can mean coming back to a damp house.
• Adjust anything that has loosened. Door stops are on the top hinge; a screw adjusts how far the door swings. GFCI outlets that trip in the kitchen or bath show a small red light; press reset. We put every bathroom on its own circuit and kitchens usually on two, so the reset is in the room that tripped.

Once a Year (Pick a Month and Keep It)

• Inspect and refresh bathroom caulk as needed.
• Have the gutters professionally cleaned if you have not done it yourself.
• Clean the range hood filters if summer got away from you.
• Look over the exterior trim and siding. Ours is PVC trim and siding a couple of grades above builder-grade, so you are mostly looking for damage rather than rot, but a walk-around once a year tends to catch things early.

If You Are on Septic

Most homes around Lake Anna are. Two things to add to the list that the county does not remind you about:

• Conventional system: have the tank inspected and pumped as needed. Your installer or a septic service can suggest a schedule based on tank size and how many people live in the house.
• Alternative system (AOSS): Virginia regulations require the owner to have the system operated and maintained by a licensed operator on the schedule in your operation and maintenance manual, and to keep the manual and the operator’s log at the house. If your system has visible parts like a control panel or a pump chamber lid, it may be an AOSS. If so, the operator visits are a legal requirement, not a suggestion. Our perc test post explains the difference.

The Printable Version

Monthly: change air filters; fan on; bath fans until the mirror clears.

Fall: winterize hose bibs; clear daylight drains; clean gutter outlets; check sediment filter; test smoke detectors.

Winter: watch caulk; run fans longer.

Spring: reopen hose bibs; test smoke detectors; walk the exterior after rain; water the lawn; clean windows.

Summer: check daylight drains; clean range hood filters; keep the system running.

Yearly: caulk; gutters; exterior walk-around; septic on its schedule.

When in Doubt, Call

We know the walkthrough is a lot to absorb in one sitting, which is why this list exists. If something on it does not match your house, or you are standing in front of the sediment filter wondering which valve is which, call us at (540) 895-9966 or use the contact page. We would rather walk you through it a second time than have you guess.