This home maintenance checklist covers the outside of a Metro Detroit house month by month: windows and screens, gutters and downspouts, siding, decks, concrete and Christmas lights. It also lists three indoor safety jobs that belong on every house's calendar. The jobs Glass Guru can do are marked in the table, inside our seasons. Outside glass runs March to November, gutters and washing run April to November, and inside glass runs all year. Christmas lights are booked and installed in the fall and come down in January.
Three jobs for every month
Three indoor jobs don't follow the seasons at all:
Furnace filter. ENERGY STAR's maintenance checklist says to inspect, clean or change the air filter once a month in your furnace, central air conditioner or heat pump.
Smoke alarms. The U.S. Fire Administration says to test smoke alarms every month.
Dryer lint filter. USFA's dryer guidance says to clean the lint filter before and after each cycle.
None of these is a Glass Guru service. They're here because they're easy to forget, and there's more on each one further down.
The checklist, month by month
Month | Outside the house | What Glass Guru does that month |
|---|---|---|
January | Christmas lights come down. Keep the dryer and furnace vents outside clear of snow. | Christmas light takedown, inside windows |
February | Watch the roof edge for ice dams after a heavy snow. | Inside windows |
March | Rinse the road salt film off storm doors and lower windows. Look over gutters and downspouts for winter damage. | Outside windows begin, inside windows |
April | After the last freeze, wash the salt off the siding, garage doors and concrete. | Washing and gutter cleaning begin, windows |
May | Clean windows once the tree pollen is done. Walk the sprinkler zones. Clear maple seeds from the gutters late in the month. | Windows inside and out, gutters, washing |
June | Wash the deck before staining it, and let the boards dry. | Deck and fence washing, windows, gutters |
July | Check the shaded north and east walls for green growth. Check that the dryer vent flap outside opens. | Soft washing siding, windows, gutters |
August | Watch the gutters in a heavy rain for spills at the corners. Check screens for tears. | Gutters, windows, washing |
September | Book fall gutter cleaning and Christmas lights. Wash off the summer growth. Have the heating system checked. | Washing, windows, gutters |
October | Fall window cleaning. Disconnect garden hoses before the first freeze. Sweep wet leaves off decks and patios. | Windows, washing, gutters, Christmas installs begin late in the month |
November | Fall gutter cleaning once the oaks are bare. Hang Christmas lights on a dry day. | Gutters, windows, washing, Christmas installs |
December | Clean inside glass before guests arrive. Keep vents clear of snow. | Inside windows, chandelier cleaning, the last Christmas installs |
The rest of this post walks through each season and why the jobs fall where they do.
Spring, March to May
Spring is when winter gets cleaned off the house. The film on storm doors and lower windows in March is road salt, thrown up by traffic and your own driveway. Water takes it off easily, and a dry cloth just smears it. Outside window cleaning starts for us in March.
Washing starts in April. The National Weather Service puts Detroit's average last spring freeze at April 22, and late April into May is when the salt comes off the siding, the garage doors and the concrete. Our post on driveway and patio cleaning covers what salt does to concrete and what a wash can fix.
Late April into May is also peak pollen from the maples and oaks, so a window cleaning right before it won't last. Book the spring window visit for after the pollen. While you're outside, run each sprinkler zone and look for heads hitting the house. Sprinkler water carries minerals, and when it dries on glass every other morning all summer, it leaves spots that can turn into etching. Turning a head a few degrees fixes it.
Then come the seeds. MSU Extension notes that red, silver and Norway maples produce the largest quantities of winged seeds in spring, and that they can clog gutters and downspouts. The spring gutter visit is for those seeds. Our Livonia gutter cleaning page and our main gutter cleaning page cover what that visit includes, with every downspout flushed and checked running clear.
Summer, June to August
Early summer is deck season. If you plan to stain a wood deck, wash it first and give the boards time to dry before the stain goes on. We clean wood decks at low pressure, with the grain, so the wood doesn't come up fuzzy.
By midsummer, look at the north and east walls. Those sides dry slowest after rain and sit in shade, and that's where green algae grows on siding. A soft wash at low pressure, with a cleaner that kills the algae, takes care of it. High pressure on vinyl can force water behind the panels. Our Canton pressure washing page covers both the siding and the concrete on a typical subdivision house, and our pressure washing page has the full service.
Summer storms are a good gutter test. Water spilling over the front edge or pouring off one corner points to a clog, and an overflowing gutter dumps water against the foundation. A damp corner in the basement after heavy rain can trace back to one blocked section right above it.
Fall, September to November
Fall stacks a lot of jobs into a few weeks, so it pays to book in September. The fall window cleaning goes in early fall, before the weather turns. A house wash in late September into October gets the summer growth off before the leaves come down.
The National Weather Service puts Detroit's average first fall freeze at October 26. Have the garden hoses off the spigots by then. It's also the time for a furnace check, since ENERGY STAR's checklist says to have the heating system looked at in the fall and the cooling system in the spring.
The fall gutter cleaning comes last, after the oaks finish dropping, which lands in the second half of November in a typical year. A cleaning in early October gets the maple leaves, and then the oaks fill the gutters again.
Christmas lights fit in here too. Booking happens in the fall, installs run from late October into early December, and the gutters should be clear before the clips go on. Our post on when to put up Christmas lights goes through the timing, and the service is on our Christmas light installation page.
Winter, December to February
Outside work stops for the winter, because rinse water turns to ice on the glass, the siding and the walk. Inside windows can be cleaned any month, and January and February are the easiest months to get on our schedule. Our Northville window cleaning page covers how inside glass gets done, from the older sash in the city to the tall entry glass in the township. Chandelier cleaning is indoor work too, and we do it all year. The details are on our window cleaning and chandelier cleaning pages.
The Christmas lights come down in January, and takedown is part of our service.
After a heavy snow, check two things outside. The U.S. Fire Administration says to keep the vents for the furnace, stove, fireplace and dryer clear of snow and debris. And watch the roof edge for ice dams. MSU Extension traces ice dams to heat building up in the attic, from too little insulation or ventilation, and that's where the lasting fix is. Clean gutters won't stop them, though a packed gutter makes them worse.
Three safety jobs to keep on the list
These three are outside our work. They're on the list because each one takes a few minutes and protects the people inside.
The furnace filter. ENERGY STAR says to inspect, clean or change the air filter every month. Write the date on the frame when you change it, so you know where you are.
The dryer vent. Clean the lint filter before and after each cycle, and check the vent behind the dryer to make sure it isn't crushed or damaged. Outside, the vent flap should open when the dryer is running. The U.S. Fire Administration reports that failure to clean was the leading factor in home clothes dryer fires from 2018 to 2020, at 31 percent.
Smoke alarms. USFA says to test them every month and replace the whole alarm every 10 years. Alarms with 9-volt batteries need new batteries at least once a year. Put alarms on every level of the house, basement included, and inside and outside each sleeping area.
What Glass Guru can take off the list
We're owner-operated in Northville and have been since 2014, and we work in ten towns around it. Here's what we do and when:
Service | Season |
|---|---|
Window cleaning, outside glass | March to November |
Window cleaning, inside glass | All year |
Gutter cleaning | April to November |
Pressure washing and soft washing | April to November |
Christmas light installation | Booked and installed in the fall, taken down in January |
Chandelier cleaning | All year |
Every service is listed on our services page.
Questions people ask
What should a Michigan house get done outside before winter?
Clean the gutters after the last leaves fall and make sure every downspout runs clear. Disconnect garden hoses before the first freeze, sweep wet leaves off decks and patios, and have the heating system checked. The National Weather Service puts Detroit's average first freeze at October 26, so start in October.
When does the outdoor cleaning season start and end in Michigan?
For us, outside window cleaning runs March through November, and gutter cleaning and pressure washing run April through November. Inside windows can be cleaned in any month. The season ends when overnight freezes come back, because rinse water turns to ice on the glass, the siding and the walk.
How often should a furnace filter be checked?
Once a month. ENERGY STAR's maintenance checklist says to inspect, clean or change the air filter in a furnace, central air conditioner or heat pump every month. It also says to have the heating system checked in the fall and the cooling system in the spring. Writing the date on the filter helps you keep track.
Which jobs on this checklist does Glass Guru do?
Window cleaning inside and out, gutter cleaning, pressure washing and soft washing, Christmas light installation and takedown, and chandelier cleaning. Outside glass runs March to November, gutters and washing April to November, and inside glass all year. Christmas lights are booked in the fall and come down in January.
Get a quote
Pick the jobs you'd like off your list and send them with your address through Get a Free Quote. Several jobs can go on one visit, in the right order: the house wash first, then the gutters, then the windows.
