Exterior and Roof Maintenance: What to Do, How Often, and What It Costs

Almost every expensive exterior problem is a water problem. Roofs leak, gutters overflow, siding lets rain behind it, foundations crack as wet soil swells and shrinks, and decks and fence posts rot where wood stays damp. The outside of a house is a system for shedding water, and exterior maintenance is mostly about keeping that system working.

This guide covers the exterior and roof jobs that actually matter, how often to do them, what each costs to do yourself versus hiring it out, and what each one prevents. It also links to answers for the problems people search for most, like what a roof leak costs to fix, how often to clean gutters, and when a foundation crack is worth worrying about.

Much of this work can be checked from the ground. Binoculars, a flashlight, and a screwdriver for probing wood will tell you most of what you need to know, without getting on a ladder or a roof.

The roof

The roof is the most expensive part of the exterior to replace, and most roof leaks start small, at one spot: a cracked rubber boot around a vent pipe, flashing that lifted at a chimney or wall, or a few shingles creased by wind. Caught early, those are usually repairs of a few hundred dollars. Missed for a season or two, they become rotted decking, wet insulation, and a stained ceiling.

You do not need to get on the roof to check it. Look from the ground with binoculars in spring, in fall, and after big storms. In the attic, look on a sunny day for daylight through the decking and for stains on the wood. Asphalt shingle roofs often last somewhere around 15 to 30 years depending on the shingle, the climate, and ventilation, so knowing your roof's age changes whether a repair or a replacement makes more sense.

• Ceiling stain or active drip? See what a roof leak costs to fix, including what to do the day it leaks.
• Water near the chimney? See why a chimney leaks, which covers flashing, crowns, and caps.

Gutters, downspouts, and drainage

If you have gutters, they collect water off the whole roof and concentrate it at a few downspouts. When they work, that water goes away from the house. When they clog, it spills along the entire roof edge, soaking fascia, running down siding, and landing right against the foundation. Cleaning them at least twice a year, and making sure each downspout empties several feet from the house, is one of the highest-value jobs on this page.

Grading matters just as much. Soil around the house should slope away from the foundation. Over the years, settling, mulch, and landscaping often reverse that slope, sending water toward the house instead.

• How often to clean gutters, what it costs, and what skipping it causes.

The foundation

Most foundation cracks are not emergencies. Thin vertical cracks in poured concrete are very common and usually come from the concrete shrinking as it cured. The ones to take seriously are horizontal cracks, stair-step cracks in block or brick, cracks wider than about a quarter inch, cracks where one side has shifted, and cracks that grow over time. Marking the ends of a crack with a pencil and the date is a free way to tell.

Because water drives so much foundation movement, the cheapest foundation maintenance is the drainage work above: clean gutters, downspout extensions, and soil that slopes away. See when to worry about a foundation crack.

Siding, windows, and trim

Siding is a rain screen, not a waterproof wall. It sheds most water, and the joints around windows, doors, and trim are where the rest gets in. Walk around the house once a year and after big storms, looking for cracked or loose siding, failed caulk, soft wood trim, and stains running down from windows or the roofline.

• Cracked panels, rot, or storm damage? See what siding repair costs for vinyl, fiber cement, wood, and stucco.
• Haze between the panes of a double-pane window? See why there is fog between window panes. It means the seal failed, and the glass can often be replaced without replacing the window.

Decks and fences

If you have a wood deck or fence, rot is the main enemy, and it starts where wood stays wet: board ends, joist tops under seams, and posts at the ground line. A screwdriver is the best inspection tool. Push it into the wood, and if it sinks in easily, that piece has rot.

On a deck, a rotted board is a tripping hazard, but rot in the ledger board, where the deck attaches to the house, or in the posts is a safety issue. Check those every year, especially before hosting a crowd.

• How to replace rotted deck boards, and when a deck problem is structural.
• How to fix a rotted fence post, including the $20-$40 bracket that can save a post.

Driveways and the garage

Driveway cracks let water into the gravel base, and in freeze climates that water expands every cold night. Filling narrow cracks before winter costs little and keeps them from becoming potholes or sunken slabs. If you have an asphalt driveway, sealcoating every 2 to 3 years helps too.

If you have a garage door opener, test the auto-reverse a few times a year by placing a piece of wood under the door, and keep the rollers and hinges lubricated. Never adjust the springs yourself.

• How to seal driveway cracks, and when cracks mean something bigger.
• Why a garage door will not close, starting with the sensor check that fixes most cases for free.

When to do it yourself and when to hire it

• Do it yourself. Inspecting the roof from the ground, cleaning one-story gutters, adding downspout extensions, recaulking, swapping a vinyl siding panel, filling driveway cracks, replacing a deck board, bracing a fence post, and lubricating the garage door.

• Maybe, if you are comfortable. Replacing a fence post, sealing a deck, replacing garage door safety sensors, and small wood rot repairs with epoxy.

• Always hire it. Anything on a steep or two-story roof, flashing and chimney work, garage door springs and cables, structural foundation repair, deck ledgers and posts, and tree work near the house or power lines.

Ladders and roofs cause many of the worst home maintenance injuries. If a job means working from the top of a ladder, on a roof, or near power lines, the cost of hiring it out is almost always worth it. For the season-by-season version of this list, see the fall home maintenance checklist and how to prepare for storms and tornadoes.