February home maintenance checklist
Updated August 2026
February is an inspection month, not a chore month: nine tasks, and most are about finding the damage winter has already done while there is still time to plan the repair. Walk the basement, read the foundation, watch the roof load, and use the quiet weeks to book the trades everyone else calls in May.
| Task | Interval | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Walk the basement and crawl space for damp spots | Monthly | 15 min · DIY |
| Test every GFCI outlet with the reset button | Twice a year | 10 min · DIY |
| Run the range hood filter through the dishwasher | Every 1–3 months | 10 min · DIY |
| Swap flattened weatherstripping on the doors you use | Yearly | 45 min · DIY |
| Task | Interval | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Check roof snow load and the eaves for ice dams | After heavy snow | 10 min · DIY |
| Look for new foundation cracks after freeze-thaw | Twice a year | 15 min · DIY |
| Task | Interval | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Protect exposed pipes on nights below 20°F | Cold nights | 10 min · DIY |
| Swap the furnace filter | Every 1–3 months | 10 min · DIY |
| Book the spring AC tune-up | Yearly | 5 min call · $75–200 |
Why these tasks in February
Two things make February worth a walkthrough. The first is that winter damage is visible right now and invisible in June: a damp streak down a foundation wall, a hairline crack that opened a quarter inch since fall, frost on the underside of the roof sheathing. Find those now and you can gather quotes without paying rush prices. The second is scheduling leverage. Heating emergencies are tapering and cooling season has not started, so a spring AC tune-up booked this month runs $75–200 and you name the date. When the outdoor work restarts in March, you will already know what needs fixing.
This whole checklist ships as reminders in OnOtto: every task above, on the right schedule for your home, snooze-proof.
Load this checklist as remindersFrequently asked questions
How much snow on a roof is too much?
Judge weight, not depth. A foot of light fresh snow weighs roughly 5 pounds per square foot, packed or wet snow can be three times that, and most residential roofs are engineered for 20 pounds or more per square foot. That puts the rough worry line near 4 feet of fresh powder or about 2 feet of dense settled snow, less if there is a layer of ice underneath. Pull it from the ground with a $30–60 roof rake and never climb onto a snow-covered roof.
Why is my basement damp in the middle of winter?
Usually condensation rather than a leak. Tape a one-foot square of plastic sheeting tightly to the concrete for 24 hours. Moisture on the room side of the plastic means humid indoor air condensing on a cold wall; moisture trapped underneath means water moving through the concrete. Condensation is solved with ventilation, air sealing at the rim joist, and a dehumidifier holding the space under 50%. Water coming through the wall is a grading and gutter problem to fix in spring.
Are new foundation cracks in winter serious?
Most are not. Hairline vertical cracks under an eighth of an inch are ordinary concrete shrinkage and frost movement. Mark each end with a pencil and the date, then look again in June. What deserves a call now is a horizontal crack, a stair-step crack through block mortar, any crack wider than a quarter inch, or one where one side sits proud of the other. A structural engineer inspection runs $300–600 and is money well spent before you accept a repair bid.
Is February really a good time to book HVAC work?
It is the best window of the year. Furnace emergencies are winding down, nobody has thought about cooling yet, and a tune-up sits at $75–200 with your choice of dates instead of a two-week wait in July. If the AC is 12 or more years old, this is also the month to collect replacement quotes, generally $6,000–12,000 installed depending on size and efficiency, while salespeople still have time to measure the house properly instead of eyeballing a swap.