How to keep track of routine maintenance tasks around the house

“I recently became responsible for maintaining a house for the first time (yay, mortgage), and I am slowly realizing that owning one is basically a game of noticing small problems before they become financially devastating.”source ↗

“The problem is that I have no idea what actually deserves priority. Every contractor seems to have a different answer, and online checklists include everything from cleaning the gutters to having the sewer line inspected.”source ↗

“It feels like there are a hundred inexpensive things that nobody teaches you to do until one of them goes wrong.”source ↗

“What home maintenance task did you learn about way later than you should have?”source ↗

“I mean the things nobody really explains when you buy a house — remembering the exact HVAC filter size, flushing a water heater, knowing where shutoff valves are, keeping track of when equipment was last serviced, etc.”source ↗

“lived here like 3 years before i found out you supposed to do that, the amount of lint coming out was scary honestly thought my house gonna burn down”source ↗

“cleaning the dryer vent line, not just the lint trap, that one caught me by surprise with how much buildup hides in the wall pipe”source ↗

“Never realized that you had to clean out the drain in a dishwasher. I didn't even know there was a trap in the dishwasher.”source ↗

“New home owner here! Has anyone found or developed an app, system, or flow that they like to track all the different things their home needs?”source ↗

“I am finding that I am getting a ton of repairs, needing to keep up with maintenance, and tracking what products/materials I have in different places so I can troubleshoot problems if they come up.”source ↗

“Flushing the water heater on these list is so friggin wild to me. Like 0.01% of all water heaters have ever been flushed and are just fine, it's like a single sentence in the manual.”source ↗

“Every October article has the same 40 item checklist and I don’t believe anyone does all of it. This is our third fall in the house and I’m trying to build the short list that actually prevents problems: the things that, skipped, turn into real repairs by spring. What’s earned a permanent spot on your list, and what have you dropped as busywork?”source ↗

“We moved into a 1970s house this summer. First-time homeowner here. We have a few large trees that are already dropping leaves, so the first things on my list are cleaning the gutters, checking the downspouts, and trimming back a couple of branches that are getting close to the roof and siding.”source ↗

“Anything else I should add, especially for a house this age?”source ↗

“Every fall I see the same articles with 30 or 40 things you’re supposed to check, and I seriously doubt most people are doing all of that.”source ↗

“This is our third fall in the house, and I’m trying to figure out the few things that are actually worth staying on top of because skipping them could turn into a bigger repair by spring.”source ↗

“I’d like to know how you handle administration tasks such as checking AD reports, backup reports, etc.”source ↗

“Do I need to do brake fluid change and steering fluid?”source ↗

“I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to stay on top of things like: is everyone running the latest Windows updates? Is anyone's hard drive almost full? Is an old piece of software still installed on a machine we no longer use?”source ↗

“Right now, it's mostly manual checks, and sometimes spreadsheets, but it feels really ad-hoc and I'm sure we're missing things.”source ↗