ᐅ How to Keep an Overview of All Maintenance and Renovation Tasks for the House?

I wouldn’t even set up a separate calendar for that, but simply categorize the "Maintenance/TO-DO appointments for the house" accordingly.

Good evening,

I want to give it another try 😉
My partner and I both work and have two small children. Our daily life is quite busy. We are young homeowners and, although we want our house to be well maintained, we realized that there are many things we simply don’t have on our radar. That’s why I would find it very helpful to have an app that, after entering some basic information about my house, suggests a selection of common maintenance tasks around the house. It would save me the research and reduce the “mental load” of constantly thinking about what still needs to be done. I could then schedule these tasks individually, according to my needs.
Examples:
- Clean gutters
- Clean garbage bins
- Treat/paint wooden frame windows
- Clean roller shutters / blinds
- Check/clean drains
- Clean birdhouses
- Check basement walls for moisture
- …
Many of these tasks we have never done in four years. Not because we didn’t notice them, but simply because we never planned to do them. It’s not that we lack a sense of responsibility or don’t care for the house. The past few years have just been filled with work, family, and renovations, etc.

My guess is that many “young” and inexperienced homeowners have a similar experience. Sure, I could sit down for a morning, open a spreadsheet, search on Google, and gather all these topics myself. But I would prefer to have something like a “home manager app” with perhaps additional useful features.

So far, the only app I have found is Haus-Guru, which I don’t find very well designed. On the US market, I came across my.homemanager.io.

Have a good evening.

I'm pretty straightforward:

- Clean the gutters when they start dripping
- Clean the trash bins when they begin to smell
- Treat/paint the wooden frame windows when they start to rot (or are close to it) 😉
- Clean the roller shutters when they’re dirty or make scraping noises
- Check/clean the drains when they stop draining properly or smell bad
- Clean the birdhouses when no one wants to live inside anymore
- Check the basement walls for moisture when you’re down there anyway

VincentM schrieb:

The only thing I’ve found so far is Haus-Guru. But I don’t think the app is very well designed. In the US market, there is also my.homemanager.io.

If you had spent the time you used on researching and trying out apps on looking into common maintenance tasks and to-dos instead, you would probably now have a solid collection of useful tips for these tasks and could have simultaneously set up a calendar with recurring appointments.

I think I will eventually publish the homeowner checklist on my blog. You can then print it out, stick it on the fridge/the front door/on the TV, and check off items with a pen 😉

VincentM schrieb:

Many of the items listed above we have never done in 4 years.

Many things are not always due either. Painting windows/garden sheds, for example, is done when necessary. An inspection walk naturally happens when you clean the windows. I would try to check the gutters once in the fall, after most of the leaves have fallen. Clean them as needed. Here in the new development area, we certainly have less work than with a house built in the 1970s.

Hello,

sysrun80 schrieb:

I'll use a clay board and a piece of wood...

Modern gimmicks! Here I have my reliable stone tablets....! :-)

Seriously though, isn’t this a bit over the top? I can still keep track of the few construction-related things mentally, insurances and similar are handled by standing orders or direct debit, and to remember when to change the ventilation filters, I just stick a simple note on the device with the date of the last replacement.

It’s a house, not a spaceship....

Best regards,

Andreas