How to make your house behave

So far in 2026, I’ve answered messages from three clients asking about home care tips or running upcoming renovation ideas by me; I love being a part of your strategic planning!

Most of my clients know that I have a favorite, out-of-print book, “How Things Work in Your Home (and what to do when they don’t”, but a similar title I don’t talk about often is, “How To Make Your House Behave.” My copy is battered and worn, damage incurred long before my toddler took a shine to the diagrams inside, but it has a lot of useful maintenance advice beyond the repair guidance in HTWIYH.

There are plenty of tasks that we know we should be doing regularly in our homes, others that almost no one does, and some that maybe you didn’t even realize could be done. As we start the new year, it’s also a great time to map out some maintenance in your property plan: routine service, routine cleaning, and routinely skipped care.

In case you’re thinking through your home care plans already, or maybe especially if you weren’t yet, today’s final episode of Home for the Holidays is for you: “How to make your house behave,” inspired by the book, digs in to all of these items and gives some context for the care and feeding of your home.

• Service heating system and AC (annually)

• Service on-demand hot water heaters (annually)

• Change air filters, clean window AC filters (quarterly)

• Clean smoke detectors (annually)

• Clean gutters (annually)

• Trim trees back from house (evaluate seasonally)

• Keep downspouts connected (year round)

• Dishwasher

• Washer

• Garbage disposal

• Vent hood (including recirculating)

• Dryer vent (not just the lint trap)

  • Did you know your dryer really can eat socks? Especially little ones. Have it serviced!

• Use the correct cleaners for your materials

  • Stainless

  • Marble/slate/natural stone

  • Butcher block

• Run your bathroom vent fans

  • If you don’t have a bathroom vent, open a window (even in winter)

  • Consider a dehumidifier

• Latch your windows when closed

• Clean condenser coils (AC and refrigerator)

• Swap screens into storm doors in warm weather

• Mulch build-up: keep mulch and soil down below siding and sills

The Home for the Holidays pop-up podcast series will be archived on Monday, January 5th—but if there is a specific episode you haven’t gotten to yet and need more time for, let me know and I’ll get it to you! Stay tuned on Substack and Instagram for a learning series for home buyers launching in February, and for market updates as we head into a new spring season.

• Episode 2 - How to talk to family about real estate

• Episode 3 - How to open house

• Episode 4 - How to choose a real estate app

• Episode 5 - How to time the market

• Episode 6 - How agents get paid

• Episode 7 - How to spot a flip

• Episode 8 - How to update your bathroom on a budget

• Episode 9 - How to decide: rent or sell?

• Episode 10 - How to hire an agent

• Episode 11 - How to make your house behave

If you have more questions on care and feeding of your particular home, send me a message—I’d love to talk about it! And if you’d like a list of my go-to products, tools, and trades for these tasks, just ask.

Happy New Year!
Kate