Preventive Maintenance Checklist for Aging Somerset Homes

Walk down Amwell Road in Hillsborough or past the early-60s split-levels in Franklin, and you’ll see the same story: charming facades hiding furnaces on borrowed time, GFCI outlets that never tripped, and attic insulation that looks more like cotton candy than a thermal blanket. In a county where the median house age tops 47 years, “wait until it breaks” is an expensive gamble.

Below is a season-by-season, energy-smart, safety-first checklist tailor-made for home maintenance in Somerset, NJ—sprinkled with stories from Jeff, the handyman who’s nursed everything from 1890s farmhouses to 1970s bi-levels back to fighting shape.

Spring: Wake the House, Stop the Water

Gutters & Downspouts

• Clear winter grit, then flush with a hose. Jeff once fished a kid’s Nerf football from a Bound Brook cape; the blockage sent roof runoff straight into the foundation.
• Verify downspout extensions shove water ≥ 5 ft from the slab—Somerset clay soils soak slowly.

Roof & Flashing Scan

• From the ground or with a drone, look for popped shingles and rusted step-flashing around chimneys.
• Pay extra attention to valleys; snow piles there. In Montgomery, a couple ignored a lifted shingle—April showers soaked the ceiling drywall, the cost is approximately: $2,000 - $2,500.

Sump Pump Test

• Pour two buckets of water into the pit; the pump should kick in under 10 seconds.
• Install a $15 battery alarm. Power outages and spring nor’easters love to arrive together.

Exterior Caulk & Paint

• Scrape loose paint on window sills, prime, and paint touch-up before the summer sun bakes the wood.
• Use elastomeric caulk around trim gaps; standard latex cracks by Labor Day.

Get your home exterior and interior painting services from Jeff of All Trades.

HVAC Tune-Up

Schedule a pro to clean coils, check refrigerant, and test capacitors. A Somerville client who skipped service paid $600 for an emergency capacitor at 9 p.m. on the first 90 °F day.

Summer: Energy & Pest Control

Attic Insulation & Ventilation

• Measure fiberglass depth—12 inches (R-38) is the sweet spot. In Skillman, Jeff blew in cellulose and dropped the cooling bills by 18 %.
• Confirm soffit vents aren’t choked by insulation baffles.

Air-Sealing Road Trip

Caulk top plates, wire penetrations, and plumbing stacks. A smoke pencil shows where conditioned air leaks into the attic.

Window & Door Weatherstripping

• Close a dollar bill in the jamb; if it slides out easily, replace the strip.
• Upgrade to silicone bulb seals—lasts twice as long as vinyl.

Deck & Porch Safety

• Tighten lag screws at ledger boards; rot loves the shady north sides of Somerset decks.
• Replace corroded nails with 3-in exterior screws. Jeff prevented a step collapse in Bridgewater with a dozen screws and 20 minutes.

Pest Perimeter

• Trim shrubs 12 in from the siding.
• Spray diatomaceous earth at foundation cracks; ants and silverfish hate it.
• Install quarter-inch hardware cloth over dryer vents to stop mice before they nest in insulation.

Fall: Button Up Before the Chill

Furnace & Boiler Inspection

• Change filters, vacuum burners, test CO levels.
• Oil boilers common in older Hillsborough colonials need nozzle and jet cleaning annually.

Chimney & Fireplace

• Sweep the flue if creosote > 1/8 in or after every cord burned.
• Cap the chimney; Jeff found a raccoon den blocking a flue in Rocky Hill—saved a potential CO backdraft.

Water Heater Flush

• Drain two gallons to purge sediment; Somerset’s hard water drops efficiency fast.
• Check T&P valve; it should geyser when tripped, then reseat drip-free.

Exterior Hose Bibs

• Install frost-free valves or at least screw on insulating caps.
• Bleed interior shutoffs; one forgotten bib split copper in South Bound Brook, flooding a finished basement.

Weatherproof Electrical

• Upgrade exterior receptacles to in-use covers (bubble style).
• Test GFCIs; replace if they don’t trip instantly.

Winter: Safety Devices & Quiet Checks Indoors

Smoke & CO Alarms

• One on every level, inside each bedroom. Replace 9-V batteries at New Year’s.
• Install combo units with 10-year sealed lithium if wiring is absent—meets NJ code.

You can get smoke detector repair services today. We’re just one call away!

Dryer Vent Hygiene

Detach the hose, vacuum lint. Jeff pulled a bird’s nest from a Rutgers grad’s rental; dryer time plummeted by 15 minutes per load.

Ice Dam Mitigation

• Rake roof edges after heavy snow.
• Keep attic below 30 °F via ventilation; warm attics melt snow, refreezing at eaves.

Bathroom Fan Runtime

Wire fans to a 20-minute off-delay switch. Mold thrives in winter’s closed-window humidity.

Quiet House Walkthrough

Listen for hissing toilets, dripping faucets. A silent 0.5 gpm leak wastes 21,600 gallons a month—enough to fill Colonial Park’s duck pond.

Energy-Saving Mini-Audits All Year

• LED Swap – Replace 60 W incandescents with 9 W LEDs; at $0.16/kWh, that’s $22/year per bulb.
• Smart Thermostats – PSE&G rebates can cut purchase price by 50 %. Jeff programmed one in Martinsville; payback in nine months.
• Phantom Load Hunt – Plug routers, TV boxes, and chargers into smart strips. Kill standby power with a button.
• Water Pressure Regulator – Test the hose bib at 60 psi target. High-pressure busts 1990s plastic PEX joints; an $80 PRV prevents $8,000 floods.

Get all types of home electrical repair services in Somerset, NJ. We’ve got you covered.

Safety Devices Worth Every Penny

1. Fire Extinguishers – One per level, 2A:10B: C rating. Mount near exits, not stoves.
2. Arc-Fault Breakers – AFCIs trip on wiring arcing—common in original cloth-insulated cables.
3. Radon Mitigation Fans – Somerset sits in EPA Zone 1. Test every two years; sub-slab fans run $1,100 and slash risk.
4. Automatic Water Shutoff Valves – Leak sensors talk to a servo on the main. After a frozen-pipe fiasco in Millstone, Jeff installed one; insurance gave a 5 % premium discount.

Local Anecdotes: Lessons From the Field

• The Case of the Singing Pipes – A Franklin Park raised-ranch had a midnight pipe “howling.” Jeff strapped loose copper lines, added a water-hammer arrestor, and replaced a washer in an upstairs toilet fill valve. Silence restored—sleep-deprived owners called it “priceless.”
• Vintage Windows, Modern Savings – A 1910 Somerville Victorian kept its wavy-glass sashes. Jeff fitted compression jamb liners and spring bronze weatherstripping; drafts dropped, charm intact.
• Garage Door Lifeline – A Bridgewater resident ignored a frayed torsion spring cable. Jeff spotted it during a tune-up, swapped cables before the door crashed into a BMW. Cost: $180 vs. $3,500 in bodywork.