Routine care
Every House
Seasonal inspections, heating and cooling, plumbing, electrical safety, drainage, roofing, gutters, appliances, caulking, weatherproofing, and the small jobs that prevent expensive ones.
Caring for a house built in 1914
House Maintenance
The ordinary work every house asks for, the extra attention an old house requires, and a running record of what it takes to keep Old Ruby standing well.
Old house care
Old Ruby Watch List
Foundation and masonry, original woodwork, old windows, plaster, exterior trim, porch components, moisture, settling, historic materials, and aging systems deserve their own record and rhythm.
Season by season
Annual Rhythm
Spring recovery, summer exterior work, fall preparation, and winter monitoring keep routine maintenance from becoming a collection of expensive surprises.
The continuing story
Repairs & Preservation
Repairs, discoveries, restoration work, costs, materials, photographs, and future follow-up are recorded below so today's maintenance becomes tomorrow's house history.
The ordinary work
What Every House Needs
A practical yearly rhythm for the systems and surfaces that quietly keep a home dry, safe, efficient, and functioning.
Spring
- Inspect roof, flashing, gutters, downspouts, and exterior drainage after winter.
- Look for foundation movement, new cracks, moisture, or grading problems.
- Check exterior caulk, paint, siding, windows, doors, and screens.
- Service cooling equipment and replace or clean filters as needed.
- Test smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms and inspect fire extinguishers.
- Check plumbing fixtures, supply lines, hose bibs, and visible drains for leaks.
Summer
- Handle exterior painting, sealing, carpentry, masonry, and weatherproofing while conditions are favorable.
- Inspect decks, porches, railings, steps, walks, and exterior wood for movement or decay.
- Keep vegetation and irrigation away from siding, foundation, and woodwork.
- Clean dryer vents and inspect appliance hoses and connections.
- Check attic or upper spaces for heat, moisture, pests, and roof leaks.
- Review larger repair projects while there is still time to complete them before winter.
Fall
- Clean gutters and confirm downspouts carry water well away from the house.
- Service heating equipment and replace filters before sustained cold weather.
- Weather-strip doors and windows and seal obvious air or water entry points.
- Drain or protect exterior plumbing and prepare hoses, irrigation, and outdoor equipment for freezing temperatures.
- Inspect chimney, flue, roof penetrations, and exterior vents as applicable.
- Test alarms again and review emergency shutoffs, flashlights, and winter supplies.
Winter
- Watch for ice dams, roof loading, frozen plumbing, condensation, and unusual drafts.
- Keep exterior vents and combustion-air openings clear of snow.
- Monitor basement and crawl-space moisture and look for active leaks during thaws.
- Listen for changes in heating, plumbing, and electrical systems rather than waiting for complete failure.
- Keep indoor humidity reasonable to protect windows, finishes, and building materials.
- Use the quieter season to document repairs, plan projects, and review the maintenance log.
The extra century
Old-House Watch List for Ruby
Older houses often give warnings before they give failures. The useful habit is learning which changes are normal, which are new, and which deserve attention.
Foundation & Masonry
- Photograph and date notable cracks so movement can be compared over time.
- Watch mortar, brick, stone, and concrete for spalling, open joints, or moisture damage.
- Prioritize drainage before cosmetic crack repair.
Wood, Windows & Porch
- Check sills, trim, porch posts, rails, steps, and other horizontal wood surfaces for softness or trapped water.
- Maintain glazing, paint, putty, weatherstripping, and hardware on older windows before replacement becomes the default answer.
- Document original components before repair or alteration.
Plaster, Floors & Movement
- Record new plaster cracks, door changes, floor movement, or recurring seasonal gaps.
- Distinguish long-settled quirks from changes that are actually new.
- Avoid forcing modern materials into assemblies that need to dry and move differently.
Water, Plumbing & Electrical
- Know which systems are original, replaced, mixed-age, or still unidentified.
- Record pipe, wiring, panel, fixture, and shutoff changes as they are discovered.
- Treat unexplained staining, heat, odors, repeated breaker trips, slow leaks, and corrosion as information worth investigating promptly.
Historic Materials
- Identify materials before sanding, cutting, demolition, or aggressive cleaning.
- Preserve useful samples, labels, hardware, profiles, and photographs when original material must be removed.
- Choose repair before replacement when the original material can reasonably continue to serve.
Documentation
- Record what was found, not only what was fixed.
- Keep costs, materials, contractor names, paint colors, product details, and photographs with each repair.
- Give every important repair a next-check date so the house develops a usable long-term record.
Running record
Maintenance Log
Sep 11, 2021
Living Refinish
Removed ceiling tiles, wood paneling, 4 layers of wallpaper, on the ceiling too. Patched holes, Mud nearly everywhere. fresh paint. Refinished the floors a second time.
View record →