Home Upkeep Every 10 Years
Every home is different. Use this list of interior and exterior maintenance to guide what areas of your home might need attention. Some might need more or less work depending on how diligently they’ve been maintained.
Exterior 10-Year Home Maintenance Checklist
The exterior of your home is its first line of defense against the elements, insects and more. Keeping a close eye on major areas like the foundation, siding and roofing helps prevent large-scale damage.
Priority 10-Year Exterior Home Maintenance
- Check the foundation for cracks, sinking and insect damage. Also, any waterproofing jobs should be reassessed after ten years.
- Look for rot around windows. Even if you have vinyl windows, they might be trimmed with wood that can rot. Also, check that the seals of vinyl windows are intact. Cloudiness, difficulty opening the window and drafts all might indicate that the seal is broken.
- Schedule septic maintenance. Your septic tank should be pumped every three to five years depending on the size of your home and household.
- Repaint exterior surfaces as needed.
- Check the integrity of the siding. Looking at rot on wood shingles or holes/ damage on vinyl or aluminum siding.
- Check the roof for leaks, missing shingles and to check the integrity of the roof coating (metal roof). If the roof wasn’t new when you bought the home, it might be time to replace it.
- Look at your deck or patio for structural issues. Pay attention to rotting or damaged wood, erosion and insect damage.
- Inspect for bugs and areas where they may be nesting. Call in a pro if you have concerns.
- Check the locks, hinges and weather stripping on exterior and storm doors are working and intact.
- Remove any large dead trees around your property that might pose a safety risk.
Optional 10-Year Exterior Home Maintenance
- If your home color, accent trim or shutters feel passe, updating your paint color after ten years for aesthetic reasons adds curb appeal.
- Rethink or add to your landscaping. Pay attention to the size and scale of the plants in the front of your home. Are they accenting or overpowering the front of the house?
- Consider resurfacing or refinishing your driveway if it has cracks or discoloration.
- Upgrade your mailbox—they fade over time especially if they’re in direct sunlight.
- Check that hardware, lighting and locks feel modern and match your home’s aesthetic.
Interior 10-Year Home Maintenance Checklist
Don’t put off interior maintenance, it impacts not only aesthetics but safety too. Depending on how diligent you are with yearly maintenance and how high traffic your household is, your workload may vary.
Priority 10-Year Interior Home Maintenance
- It’s time to look at your appliances and see what needs to be updated. A dishwasher typically needs to be replaced every ten years. Depending on how new other appliances like your garbage disposal, refrigerator and stove are, it might be time for a replacement.
- Check how old your water heater is, most models last about ten years.
- Make sure smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are in working order.
- Check the efficiency of your HVAC system and make sure you’re doing the proper maintenance on an annual basis.
- Inspect all interior plumbing for leaks and consider updating old or outdated plumbing or call in a pro to do an assessment for you.
- Depending on the age of your toilets it might be time to replace them. If not the toilet, then the toilet seat if you haven’t.
- Have a pro test the functionality of your outlets and switches.
Optional 10-Year Interior Home Maintenance
- Consider repainting. Around the ten-year mark paint can start to look dull and outdated.
- Look at your kitchen’s surfaces. While functionally your countertops might work, does the color or pattern age your kitchen? The same goes for the backsplash.
- Are there ways to refresh the look of your bathrooms? Depending on color and design choices even if you updated them when you moved in, it might be time to start making small updates to avoid an entire renovation. Things like new light fixtures or faucets really help.
- Check how rugs and carpeting are holding up, look for excessive stains or wear to decide if it’s time to replace.
Planning for Home Upkeep
The longer you spend time in a home, the bigger the upgrades can get. Planning and saving for big ticket expenses makes these large projects around the house feel manageable. Starting a separate savings account makes money available when you need it. Here are a few high-priced items that might need to be replaced down the road: