The House Year

Maricopa County, Arizona

April in Maricopa County

11 tasks for a typical local house (slab, heat pump) ·adjust for yours

  1. Pull mulch and wood off the foundation line

    Mulch is great for plants and terrible pressed against a house: it holds moisture against the foundation and it IS food, piled where the diners live.

    $100–$305to hire out here

  2. Test the water heater's relief valve

    On top or high on the side of your tank is a brass valve with a flip lever — the temperature-pressure relief (TPR) valve.

    $155–$280to hire out here

  3. Clear window weep holes and wash the screens

    Look at the bottom outside edge of any vinyl or aluminum window and you'll find two or three little slots.

    $155–$355to hire out here

  4. Walk the perimeter — grading and drainage check

    Your foundation has one enemy with a thousand disguises, and it's water sitting where it shouldn't.

    $305–$1,530to hire out here

  5. Hot tub quarterly care

    First, the honest gate: no hot tub, no task — skip this card and enjoy your quarter.

    $155–$355to hire out here

  6. Spring cooling-system checkup

    Where you live, the AC is the hardest-working system in the house — it matters more than your heat, and it's planned that way in your year.

    $90–$185to hire out here

  7. Walk the perimeter like a mouse

    Pest control that works is mostly carpentry: animals and insects get in through openings, and the openings are findable.

    $130–$355to hire out here

  8. Build your defensible space before fire season

    Your area's wildfire risk is real, if not extreme — and the physics don't care about the label.

    $305–$1,225to hire out here

  9. Check your expansion tank

    Water expands when it heats.

    $155–$305to hire out here

  10. Replace your HVAC filter

    Every bit of air your system heats or cools passes through one filter.

    $75–$130to hire out here

  11. Clean the dishwasher filter

    Older dishwashers had hard food grinders.

    $100–$185to hire out here

The rest of Maricopa County's year

Not from around here? The national April list casts a wider net.

Your county's checklist, one email a month. What's due, what it should cost, and a heads-up when the weather changes the plan. No drip campaigns — we don't have the patience for them either.

Close — but it's not your house yet.

This page plans for a typical local house. The app asks twelve questions about yours and rebuilds the year around the answers — your systems, your dates, your prices.

Build your house's yearGet the iPhone app

Free to start · the whole year is $24 · no card required