Home maintenance in Florida
Updated August 2026
Florida has no heating season to plan around, so the whole calendar belongs to hurricane season and year-round humidity. Cooling runs ten to twelve months, which makes the air conditioner and its condensate drain the highest-maintenance items in the house. Add the heaviest termite pressure in the country and an insurance market that watches roof age closely, and the Florida list ends up looking nothing like a northern one.
Covers: Florida, South Florida and the Keys, Central Florida, Atlantic and Gulf coastal counties.
The climate here
From Orlando south the climate is subtropical shading into tropical, with summer dew points in the mid-70s°F and afternoon thunderstorms most days from June into September. Indoor humidity is the constant enemy: hold it under 60% and mold stays away, let it drift toward 70% for a couple of weeks and it blooms behind furniture and inside closets. That same warm damp soil supports subterranean, Formosan, and drywood termites at pressures matched almost nowhere else. Inland supplies pull from limestone, so scale is heavy, and coastal air lays salt on every condenser and hinge.
What the climate does to your house
| Risk | What it does to your house |
|---|---|
| Hurricane wind and rain | Wind finds the weakest opening: an unbraced garage door, a loose soffit panel, a lifted shingle edge. Once the envelope opens, driven rain does most of the interior damage. Roofs past 15 to 20 years are also why many Florida policies get non-renewed. |
| Relentless humidity | Warm damp air condenses inside wall cavities and behind furniture on exterior walls. A house left at 82°F with the air handler idle through a mild week can grow visible mildew on baseboards, leather, and closet walls in a fortnight. |
| Three kinds of termite | Subterranean colonies tunnel up through slab penetrations, Formosans nest above ground inside walls, and drywoods arrive by flight and settle in attic framing. Damage runs quietly for years and repairs routinely reach several thousand dollars. |
| Clogged condensate lines | Algae grows inside the condensate line and plugs it. The pan overflows, a float switch shuts the system off if you have one, and the ceiling under the air handler stains if you do not. |
| Salt air and hard water | Salt spray pits condenser fins, garage springs, and exterior hardware, while limestone-derived water scales the bottom of the water heater and every fixture. Sediment left in the tank also makes it rumble and burn more gas than it should. |
How the calendar shifts here
Delete the fall furnace service and the pipe-insulation weekend; neither applies here. The Florida year turns on three hinges. March and April is cooling service season, before the compressor starts running twelve hours a day. May is storm prep, finished before June 1 and well ahead of the mid-August to mid-October peak: shutters staged, trees trimmed, roof and flashing inspected, generator run under load. Then the condensate line gets flushed roughly monthly all summer, and the water heater gets drained twice a year instead of once because of the scale. Coastal owners add a quarterly condenser rinse. If you also own on the panhandle, the Gulf Coast list covers the same storm cycle with a cooler winter.
| Task | Interval | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Service the AC and verify the refrigerant charge | Yearly | $120–250 pro |
| Trim trees back from the roof and service drop | Yearly | Half a day · DIY or $300–900 pro |
| Test shutters or panels and count the hardware | Yearly | 2 hrs · DIY |
| Photograph the roof and record its install year | Yearly | 30 min · DIY |
| Task | Interval | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Flush the condensate line with vinegar | Monthly | 10 min · DIY |
| Keep indoor humidity under 60% | Ongoing | $15–30 hygrometer |
| Change AC filters | Every 30–60 days | 5 min · DIY |
| Task | Interval | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Termite inspection | Yearly | $75–200, or a bond at $500–2,000 |
| Drain and flush the water heater | Every 6 months | 45 min · DIY |
| Rinse the condenser coil with fresh water | Quarterly on the coast | 15 min · DIY |
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
When should I start hurricane prep in Florida?
Finish the big items in May, before the June 1 start of the Atlantic season, because the week a storm gets named is the week plywood, batteries, and tree crews vanish. May work: trim limbs off the roof, test every shutter and count the wing nuts, inspect flashing and soffits, run the generator under load, and refill fuel and water. During the mid-August to mid-October peak you want to be checking, not shopping.
How often should I flush the AC condensate drain line?
Monthly through the cooling season, which in most of Florida means most of the year. Pour a cup of distilled vinegar into the access tee on the drain line, wait fifteen minutes, then flush with water. Algae plugs that line faster here than anywhere else, and the payoff for skipping it is an overflowing pan and a stained ceiling. A wet-vac at the outdoor termination clears a line that is already blocked.
Does roof age really affect Florida home insurance?
More than anywhere else in the country. Many Florida carriers require an inspection once an asphalt shingle roof passes 15 years, and non-renewal over roof age or condition is common past 20. Keep the install date, the permit, and dated photos together in one place, and get any wind damage inspected promptly. Replacement runs roughly $12,000–30,000 on a typical single-family home, so that paperwork earns its keep.
Do I need a termite bond in Florida?
Most Florida owners carry one. An annual inspection by itself runs about $75–200, while a bond, which bundles inspection, treatment, and a repair guarantee, typically runs $500–2,000 a year depending on the house and the species covered. With subterranean, Formosan, and drywood termites all active statewide, the question is usually which coverage rather than whether. Read exactly what the bond repairs before you sign it.