Homeownership comes with responsibilities, but it should not feel like a weekly scavenger hunt for something going wrong. Most maintenance is predictable. The trick is doing the unexciting work before it becomes exciting for all the wrong reasons. Visit Allen Edwin Homes Customer Care for the Home Maintenance Roadmap, warranty resources, performance guidelines, and service information.
1. Spring: Protecting Your Home From Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio Rain
Spring maintenance should focus on moving water away from your home and identifying anything winter may have damaged.
- Snowmelt, frozen soil, heavy rain, and shifting temperatures can expose low spots in the yard, disconnected downspouts, damaged sealants, or drainage concerns. Walk the entire exterior after the ground thaws and again during a steady rain. Water should flow away from the foundation rather than collect beside it.
- Check gutters, downspouts, basement walls, crawlspaces, exterior faucets, siding, roofing, and visible foundation surfaces. Inside, replace or inspect the HVAC filter and prepare the cooling system for warmer weather.
- Document anything unusual with dated photos. Seasonal dampness does not automatically indicate a construction defect, but active water entry, repeated pooling, or meaningful changes should not be ignored. Early documentation gives Customer Care or a qualified professional better information if further evaluation is needed.
Inspect Grading Around the Foundation
Look for soil settlement, low areas, erosion, or landscaping changes that direct water toward the home.
Do not build up mulch or soil against siding. Do not cover drainage openings, exterior materials, or required clearances.
Check Gutters and Downspouts
Remove leaves and debris. Confirm each downspout is connected and directing water away from the foundation.
Watch the system during rainfall. Overflowing gutters usually announce themselves with all the subtlety of a waterfall.
Walk the Basement or Crawlspace
Look for active water, new staining, unusual odors, condensation, or changes in visible cracks.
Minor concrete shrinkage can occur. What matters is whether a condition is changing, allowing water entry, or affecting function.
Test the Sump Pump, if Your Home Has One
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Confirm the pump, discharge line, and backup system are working properly.
Inspect Exterior Sealants and Penetrations
Check around windows, doors, utility penetrations, vents, and exterior transitions.
Contact an appropriate professional when sealant is missing, damaged, or pulling away.
Prepare the Cooling System
Remove debris from around the outdoor equipment without bending fins or opening the unit.
Schedule professional service when required by the equipment manufacturer.
2. Summer: Maximizing Energy Efficiency and Curb Appeal
Summer maintenance is about keeping cooling equipment efficient while protecting the exterior from heat, humidity, storms, and excessive watering.
- Begin with the HVAC system because restricted airflow can increase energy use and place unnecessary strain on equipment. Check the filter monthly, especially during periods of heavy cooling. Inspect exterior drainage after summer storms, and make sure irrigation or hand watering is not soaking the foundation.
- Walk the siding, trim, windows, doors, roofing, concrete, and landscaping for visible changes. Keep vegetation from blocking mechanical equipment, vents, meters, or drainage paths.
- Summer is also a practical time to clean dryer exhaust components, inspect exterior caulking, and address small finish concerns before colder weather makes the work harder.
Allen Edwin homes are built to RESNET Energy Smart standards and receive third party testing, but verified performance still depends on homeowners operating and maintaining the home’s systems correctly after closing.
Check the HVAC Filter Every Month
Change it when it appears dirty and follow the equipment and filter manufacturer’s instructions. ENERGY STAR recommends checking filters monthly and changing them at least every three months. Homes with pets, construction dust, allergies, or heavy system use may require more frequent replacement.
Review ENERGY STAR heating and cooling guidance.
Keep Outdoor Equipment Clear
Remove grass clippings, leaves, weeds, and stored items from around the air conditioning unit.
Do not place decorative screens, shrubs, or furniture where they restrict airflow.
Control Watering Near the Foundation
Use irrigation carefully. The goal is consistent landscaping care, not creating a moat around the house.
Check for broken sprinkler heads or patterns that repeatedly spray siding, windows, or foundation walls.
Inspect the Exterior After Storms
Look from the ground for loose materials, damaged screens, displaced downspouts, or visible roof concerns.
Do not climb onto the roof unless you are trained and properly equipped. A professional inspection is cheaper than gravity.
Clean Dryer Exhaust Components
Check the exterior termination and remove visible lint or obstructions.
Have concealed ductwork professionally cleaned when airflow is restricted or the appliance manufacturer recommends it.
Review Concrete and Paved Surfaces
Watch for drainage problems, settlement, scaling, or damage.
Use cleaning products, deicing products, and repair materials that are appropriate for the surface and consistent with your warranty and manufacturer guidance.
The first few years of homeownership are an important time to become familiar with how your home performs through all four seasons. Every home experiences normal settling, expansion, and contraction as materials adjust to changing temperatures and humidity. Routine maintenance helps protect your investment and allows small issues to be identified before they become larger, more expensive repairs.
Water Management
Water is one of the biggest threats to any home. Proper drainage helps prevent foundation movement, basement leaks, erosion, mold, and landscape damage.
Homeowners should:
- Keep gutters and downspouts clean.
- Ensure downspouts discharge several feet away from the foundation.
- Maintain proper grading so water flows away from the home.
- Avoid overwatering landscaping next to the foundation.
- Watch for standing water after heavy rains.
- Keep window wells clean and free of leaves or debris.
- Make sure sump pumps are operating properly and test them periodically.
3. Fall: Preparing Your New Home for the Winter Freeze
Fall is the time to prepare plumbing, heating, drainage, and exterior components before freezing temperatures arrive.
- Start outside by cleaning gutters, confirming downspout connections, checking grading, and removing hoses from exterior faucets. Follow the instructions for your specific plumbing system when shutting off or draining exterior water lines.
- Inside, schedule furnace service when required, replace the HVAC filter, and test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Inspect weatherstripping around exterior doors and windows without sealing components that are designed to drain or ventilate. Check that furnace and water heater intake and exhaust openings remain unobstructed.
- Review your roof, siding, vents, and exterior penetrations from the ground after leaves have fallen.
Fall maintenance is not about predicting every winter problem. It is about removing the obvious failure points before snow, ice, and frozen soil make repairs slower, harder, and usually more expensive.
Disconnect Exterior Hoses
Remove hoses before freezing weather.
Follow your homeowner orientation materials for exterior faucets, interior shutoff valves, and winterization procedures applicable to your home.
Clean Gutters After Leaves Fall
Confirm water can move through gutters and downspouts without overflowing.
Recheck extensions so melting snow will drain away from the foundation.
Prepare the Heating System
Inspect the filter and schedule qualified service according to the manufacturer’s recommended schedule.
Keep combustible storage away from furnaces, water heaters, and other mechanical equipment.
Check Doors and Windows
Look for damaged weatherstripping, loose hardware, or areas where doors no longer close correctly.
Do not block drainage paths or apply caulk without understanding how the assembly is designed to manage water.
Test Safety Devices
Test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms. Replace batteries and devices according to their manufacturer instructions.
Confirm fire extinguishers are accessible and within their service period.
Review Snow Removal Plans
Identify furnace vents, utility equipment, meters, sump discharge locations, and drainage paths before snow covers them.
Use care around siding, concrete, and mechanical equipment when shoveling or operating snow removal equipment.
4. Winter: Interior Safety and Humidity Management
Winter maintenance should focus on indoor humidity, airflow, mechanical operation, plumbing protection, and safe snow management.
- Cold outdoor air and heated indoor air create conditions where condensation may develop on windows, walls, pipes, or other cool surfaces. Monitor relative humidity and adjust humidifiers, ventilation, and daily habits when moisture collects.
- Keep supply registers and return grilles open and unobstructed.
- Continue checking the HVAC filter monthly during heavy heating use.
- Outside, keep furnace intake and exhaust openings free of snow, ice, leaves, and drifting debris. Watch for frozen plumbing risks in areas exposed to unusual cold, especially during power outages or extended periods away from home.
- Do not ignore recurring condensation, water staining, unusual mechanical sounds, or persistent cold areas. Some seasonal variation is normal, but repeated moisture or performance concerns deserve attention before they damage finishes or create a larger maintenance problem.
Monitor Indoor Humidity
The EPA generally recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 50%, while keeping it below 60%. The correct setting for your home may vary with outdoor temperature, equipment, window conditions, and manufacturer guidance.
Review EPA indoor air quality guidance.
Respond to Condensation
Reduce humidity when water repeatedly collects on windows, walls, or pipes.
Use bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans as intended. Make sure dryers vent outdoors and ventilation openings remain clear.
Keep Air Moving
Do not block supply registers or return grilles with furniture, rugs, boxes, or window coverings.
Avoid closing multiple registers in an attempt to redirect heat unless an HVAC professional has evaluated the system.
Check Mechanical Exhaust Openings
After snow or ice events, visually confirm furnace, water heater, and other exterior vents remain unobstructed.
Never modify or cover an intake or exhaust opening.
Protect Plumbing During Severe Cold
Maintain appropriate indoor temperatures and follow your plumbing manufacturer’s guidance.
Contact a qualified professional when plumbing is frozen, leaking, or repeatedly losing pressure.
Record Recurring Concerns
Take photos and note the date, weather, location, and duration.
Good documentation helps distinguish a one time weather condition from a pattern requiring further investigation.
5. Understanding Your State Specific 1, 2, and 10 Year Warranty Coverage
Every Allen Edwin home includes 10 year third party structural protection through Residential Warranty Company, but the shorter coverage periods are not identical in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. The sample Michigan and Ohio documents describe specified builder obligations during year one and structural protection during years one through 10. The Indiana sample includes specified workmanship and systems coverage during years one and two, additional roof system coverage during years three and four, and major structural defect coverage during years one through 10. These are summaries of sample documents, not replacements for the validated warranty issued for your home. Coverage depends on definitions, performance standards, exclusions, homeowner responsibilities, notice deadlines, and claim procedures. Review your actual documents before making a repair to a condition you believe may be covered. Unauthorized repairs, improper modifications, delayed reporting, or inadequate maintenance can affect how a request is handled.
Michigan
The sample Michigan warranty provides specified year one coverage and 10 year protection for defined structural elements.
Ohio
The sample Ohio warranty follows a similar structure, with specified year one standards and 10 year protection for defined structural elements.
Indiana
The sample Indiana warranty provides specified coverage during years one and two, roof system protection during years three and four, and 10 year protection for qualifying major structural defects.
What All Three Have in Common
The homeowner is responsible for regular maintenance of the home and surrounding property.
The documents also identify exclusions involving improper maintenance, inadequate ventilation, erosion, grading changes, unauthorized repairs, and certain water or moisture conditions.
Before Arranging a Repair
- Review the warranty document.
- Document the concern.
- Submit the appropriate Customer Care or warranty request.
- Obtain any required written authorization before incurring repair expenses.
- Keep records of communications, photos, service reports, receipts, and completed work.
Your Simple Seasonal Home Maintenance Schedule
Every Month
- Inspect the HVAC filter.
- Look for active plumbing leaks.
- Check for unusual condensation.
- Confirm mechanical vents are unobstructed.
Every Spring
- Inspect grading and drainage.
- Clean gutters and downspouts.
- Check the basement or crawlspace.
- Prepare the cooling system.
- Inspect exterior sealants and visible surfaces.
Every Summer
- Monitor irrigation near the foundation.
- Keep outdoor equipment clear.
- Inspect the exterior after storms.
- Review dryer exhaust airflow.
Every Fall
- Disconnect hoses.
- Prepare exterior faucets.
- Clean gutters again.
- Service the heating system as recommended.
- Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
Every Winter
- Monitor humidity and condensation.
- Keep intake and exhaust vents clear.
- Watch plumbing during extreme cold.
- Document recurring moisture or mechanical concerns.
FAQs About New Home Maintenance
How Often Should I Change My HVAC Filters?
Check your HVAC filter every month and replace it whenever it is visibly dirty. At a minimum, ENERGY STAR recommends changing or cleaning the filter every three months, but the correct schedule depends on the filter, equipment, indoor conditions, and manufacturer instructions. Heavy heating or cooling use may load the filter more quickly. Pets, recent construction work, indoor projects, smoke, and higher dust levels may also shorten its useful life. Do not assume a thicker or higher rated filter is automatically better. Filters that restrict airflow beyond what the equipment was designed to handle can reduce performance. Use the filter size and type approved for your system. Write the installation date on the filter frame or set a recurring phone reminder. It takes less than a minute and prevents the classic homeowner mystery of wondering when it was last changed.
Does DIY Maintenance Affect My 10 Year Warranty?
Routine DIY maintenance does not automatically cancel your structural warranty. Tasks such as replacing an approved HVAC filter, cleaning gutters, monitoring humidity, and keeping drainage paths clear are normal homeowner responsibilities. Problems arise when work is performed incorrectly, a modification contributes to damage, grading is changed, maintenance is neglected, or a potentially covered defect is repaired without following the required claim procedure. The sample warranties also state that expenses for unauthorized repairs may not be reimbursed. Before opening walls, changing structural components, altering drainage, or repairing a condition you believe may be covered, document the issue and contact Customer Care. Use qualified contractors when a task exceeds your experience. The safest rule is simple: maintain what you can safely maintain, but do not diagnose or reconstruct a covered building component based on a ten minute video and unreasonable confidence.
What Is the Most Important Seasonal Task for a New Build?
Water management is the most important recurring maintenance priority for most new homes. That means maintaining proper grading, keeping gutters and downspouts operational, preventing irrigation from soaking the foundation, watching for erosion, and responding quickly to active leaks or repeated condensation. A new home still interacts with rain, snow, frozen soil, landscaping, humidity, and normal material movement. New construction does not make the home immune to water. It gives you new components and defined systems that still require care. Walk the exterior during or shortly after heavy rain at least a few times each year. Look for water collecting near the foundation, overflowing gutters, disconnected downspouts, soil settlement, or drainage paths that have been changed by landscaping. Document concerns before altering the property. Water is persistent. Your maintenance schedule needs to be slightly more persistent.
How Do I Maintain the Grading and Drainage Around My Foundation?
Maintain soil and landscaping so surface water continues moving away from the foundation. Watch for settlement, erosion, low areas, or landscaping work that changes the original drainage pattern. Keep gutters clean and downspouts connected. Make sure extensions discharge where water can continue away from the house rather than returning toward it. Avoid piling mulch or soil against siding, covering drainage openings, or raising planting beds without understanding the required clearances. Do not redirect neighboring runoff or modify swales, drains, retaining features, or approved grading without qualified guidance. Take dated photos after closing and after major landscaping work so changes can be identified later. When water pools repeatedly, contact an appropriate professional or Allen Edwin Homes Customer Care before making major changes. State specific warranty documents should be reviewed because grading, erosion, drainage alterations, and homeowner maintenance can affect coverage.
What should homeowners document if something doesn't look right?
If you notice something unusual, documenting it early can make it much easier for Customer Care to determine the cause and recommend the appropriate solution.
Helpful documentation includes:
Take Photos
- Overall view showing location
- Close-up of the concern
- Photos over time if the condition changes
Record Dates
Write down:
- When you first noticed the issue
- Whether it has become worse
- Any repairs or maintenance already completed
Describe What You Observe
Include details such as:
- Exact location
- Size or approximate dimensions
- Color or appearance
- Any unusual sounds or odors
- Whether the issue occurs all the time or only under certain conditions (rain, freezing temperatures, high humidity, etc.)
Weather Conditions
Many exterior concerns are weather-related. Record:
- Heavy rainfall
- Snow melt
- Freezing temperatures
- High winds
- Extreme heat
Keep Maintenance Records
Save documentation for:
- HVAC filter changes
- Annual HVAC servicing
- Roof inspections
- Plumbing maintenance
- Sump pump testing
- Gutter cleaning
- Exterior caulking or sealing
Protect the Home You Worked Hard to Own
Customer Care Department Manager Trina Jecks, "Routine maintenance is one of the best ways to protect your investment. Simple tasks such as managing water around the home, replacing HVAC filters, performing seasonal inspections, and documenting concerns early can prevent many avoidable Customer Care issues and help ensure your home performs as designed for years to come. Maintenance is not a test of whether you deserve to own a home. It is a manageable system of seasonal checks, documentation, and timely action."
Allen Edwin Homes has built new homes in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio for more than 30 years. Every home is built to RESNET Energy Smart standards, receives third party energy testing, and includes 10 year third party structural protection. Those standards provide a strong starting point. Consistent homeowner maintenance helps the home continue performing as intended.
Review Allen Edwin Homes Customer Care resources for warranty documents and service information.
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