You may be able to avoid costly repairs and rehabilitation projects on your historic house by establishing good maintenance practices. A maintenance schedule can help you be consistent with house maintenance tasks. You can use a revolving maintenance schedule to chronicle your house maintenance tasks. A revolving schedule means that you start the plan over again from the beginning at the end of each time period.

You or someone you designate to oversee maintenance should also keep a house maintenance journal. This journal will provide you with an ongoing record of existing maintenance issues and the repairs you’ve made.

The following is an example of a simple revolving maintenance schedule.

Yearly Exterior Site Inspection

• Inspect every window in your house. Look for broken glass or failing glazing compound around the window sashes. Look for rotting wood. Repair as needed.
• Clean all of the glass in the windows sashes and storm windows. Do this on one side of your house each year.
• Check the masonry on your house. Look for failing mortar, cracks or excessive moisture. Repair as needed. 
• Look for emerging or potential problems with metal, stone or brick architectural features. Repair as needed.
• Check over your entire house for rotting wood. Use binoculars to help you locate areas of rot. Repair rotting historic wood rather than replacing it. Use architectural epoxies and/or splice new wood to the old.
• Check your roof for flashings and other roof materials that are failing. Look for potential leaks around vent stacks, rooftop air conditioning compressor units, and the flashings around parapets, chimneys, valleys and dormers. Repair as needed. 
• Check the grade around your house. If the ground around your foundation has settled, add new fill and create a minimum three-degree pitch away from your structure.
• Look at the trees surrounding your house. Prune or remove dead limbs and dying trees.

Twice a Year Exterior Site Inspection

• Look for failing paint and determine why it is failing. Often a leaky gutter or roof can be the culprit. An area that was not prepared properly before paint was applied can also cause paint failure. Scrape loose paint and prepare the surface properly before you touch up the paint. Dark-colored paints can fade over time, so you may need to have the paint tinted to match.
• Check the caulk around your house. Replace any caulk that has failed.
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  Dodge County. Cleaning your gutters in the spring and fall will help ensure water is properly draining away from your building's foundation. Source: WHS - State Historic Preservation Office.

  Check the gutters and downspouts. Look for water leaks, sagging gutters, gutters that are too small to handle the volume of water coming off your roof and missing downspouts. Repair as needed.
• Look for vine growth around your house. Destroy any vines that could attach themselves to your house.
• Observe all hard-surface sidewalks and driveway areas around your house. Look for deteriorating, settling, or cracking concrete and asphalt. Repair as needed.
• Look for signs that rodents have entered your house.

Interior Site Inspections

Steam and Hot Water Boilers: Yearly

• Check for a failing flue vent pipe. Look for holes or rust. Repair as needed.

Steam and Hot Water Boilers: Twice a year

• Hire a professional to service your steam or hot water boiler system at the beginning and end of each heating season.
• Check for leaking radiator shut-off and bleeder valves. Repair as needed.
• Look for water leaks in all the visible pipes in your house. Repair as needed.

Steam and Hot Water Boilers: Monthly

• Drain the sludge from your steam boiler as needed.
• Bleed the air from your cast-iron radiators through the bleeder valves at the end of the radiators.
• Check the water levels in your steam or hot water boiler.
• Oil your hot water boiler’s circulating pumps as needed.

Forced Air Heat and Air Conditioning Systems: Yearly

• Check for failing flue pipes. Look for holes or rust. Repair as needed.

Forced Air Heat and Air Conditioning Systems: Twice a Year

• Clean your humidifiers and dehumidifiers as needed. 

Forced Air Heat and Air Conditioning Systems: Monthly

• Change the filters in your forced-air heating and air conditioning systems.
• Hire a professional to service your forced-air heating and air conditioning systems at the beginning of the heating and cooling seasons.

Plumbing: Twice a Year

• Check all of your water supply pipes and drain lines for water leaks. Repair as needed.
• Check all of your water fixtures and appliances for water leaks. Repair as needed.
• Check your hot water heater for leaks and proper flue venting. Repair as needed.

Basement: Yearly

• Look for water migrating into your basement from outside. Repair as needed.
• Look for deterioration on your foundation walls. Repair as needed.
• Look for any new structural issues or wood rot in your basement. Repair as needed.

Interior Finishes: Yearly

• Inspect your flooring for wear and tear. Repair as needed.
• Inspect your plaster walls and ceilings for deterioration. Repair as needed.
• Inspect your woodwork finishes for deterioration. Repair as needed.
• Inspect the finishes on your painted surfaces for deterioration. Repair as needed.
• Check your doors for proper operation. Repair as needed.
• Check your windows for broken glass, sash ropes and spring balances. Look for signs of condensation on your windows. Repair as needed.