What home maintenance tasks should I do in spring?

Spring home maintenance checklist for Louisville and Southern Indiana: (1) Service AC before May — HVAC companies book up by the first heat wave. (2) Inspect roof for winter damage — check flashings, shingles, and gutters. (3) Clean gutters of winter debris and cottonwood seeds (late April-May). (4) Inspect foundation for cracks or water intrusion signs. (5) Apply pre-emergent crabgrass control March 10-25 when soil hits 50°F. (6) Service lawn mower — oil, blade, spark plug, air filter. (7) Check caulking around windows and doors. (8) Test sump pump with a bucket of water. (9) Flush water heater of sediment. (10) Inspect crawl space for moisture and pest entry points.

When should I service my AC in spring in Louisville?

Schedule AC service in Louisville in March or April — before the first 80-degree days that typically arrive in late April or May. HVAC companies in the Louisville metro area book 2-3 weeks out by May 1 and can be 4-6 weeks out by the first heat wave. An early-season tune-up ($80-$150) includes refrigerant check, coil cleaning, capacitor test, and drain line clearing — catching a failing capacitor ($75-$150 fix) before it leaves you without AC on a 95°F day. If your system is over 12 years old, have the technician evaluate efficiency and remaining service life.

What should I look for when inspecting my roof in spring?

Spring roof inspection checklist: (1) Missing, cracked, or curling shingles — use binoculars from the ground or hire a roofer for close inspection. (2) Damaged or lifted flashing around chimneys, vents, and skylights — most roof leaks start at flashings, not shingles. (3) Granule loss — check gutters for large deposits of asphalt granules (like dark sand). (4) Sagging areas or uneven lines. (5) Moss or lichen growth indicating moisture retention. (6) Gutter condition — gutter attachment points and downspout extensions. In Southern Indiana, winter ice and wind storms are the most common cause of winter roof damage.

How do I know if my sump pump is working?

Test your sump pump every spring before the rainy season: (1) Locate the sump pit in your basement. (2) Pour a 5-gallon bucket of water slowly into the pit. (3) The pump should activate when the water level reaches the float trigger and run until the pit is empty. (4) Verify discharge line is flowing freely outside the house. (5) Check that the discharge pipe terminates at least 10 feet from the foundation and on a slope away from the house. If the pump does not activate, check that it is plugged in. If the pump hums but does not pump, the impeller may be frozen or clogged. Replace any sump pump over 7-10 years old proactively — they typically fail during heavy rain events when you need them most.

When should I apply pre-emergent herbicide in Southern Indiana?

Apply pre-emergent herbicide in Southern Indiana when soil temperatures reach 50°F at 2-inch depth — typically March 10-25 in Louisville and Jeffersonville, and March 15-30 in more northern areas like Sellersburg and Charlestown. The soil temperature trigger matters more than the calendar date — a warm late February can move the window earlier, while a cool March delays it. Applying too early is better than applying too late — the chemical must be in the soil before crabgrass seeds germinate. Do not aerate in spring if you apply pre-emergent — aeration breaks the chemical barrier and allows crabgrass to emerge through the aeration holes.

Maintenance 10 min read Beginner Mar 8, 2026

Spring Home Maintenance Checklist for Louisville and Southern Indiana

The complete spring maintenance checklist tailored for Ohio Valley homeowners. Exterior, interior, HVAC, plumbing, and lawn care tasks to tackle before summer.

If you've lived in the Louisville metro or Southern Indiana for more than one winter, you already know the drill. The freeze-thaw cycles hammered your gutters, the Ohio Valley humidity did a number on your crawlspace, and somewhere between November and February, your HVAC system ran harder than it probably should have. Spring is your window to catch all of that before it snowballs into expensive summer emergencies.

I put together this checklist broken out by area of your home so you can work through it over a few weekends, or hand the whole thing to a pro and let them knock it out. Either way, your house will thank you.

Looking for a qualified pro in the Louisville or Southern Indiana area? Browse local home service providers who know this region and its quirks.

Exterior: Your Home's First Line of Defense

The exterior takes the worst beating every winter, especially around here where temperatures can swing 40 degrees in a single week. March and April are the sweet spot for catching damage before spring storms roll through the Ohio Valley.

Roof and Gutters

Inspect your roof from the ground using binoculars. Look for missing, cracked, or curling shingles. Ice dams are common in Clark and Floyd County winters, and they leave damage you won't notice until water starts coming through your ceiling.
Clean out gutters and downspouts. Pack those leaf guards back in if you pulled them for winter. Make sure downspouts direct water at least 4 feet away from your foundation. Our clay-heavy soil in Southern Indiana holds water like a sponge, and that water will find every crack in your foundation.
Check flashing around chimneys, vents, and skylights. This is where most roof leaks actually start.

Pro Tip: A professional roof inspection runs $150 to $350 in the Louisville area. That's nothing compared to the $5,000 to $10,000 you could spend on water damage repairs from a leak you didn't catch. Most local roofers will do a free visual inspection if you're getting a quote.

Siding, Paint, and Caulking

Walk the perimeter of your house and look for cracked caulk around windows, doors, and where different materials meet. Re-caulk anything that's pulling away or crumbling. A tube of exterior caulk costs $5 to $8 and prevents hundreds in water damage.
Check siding for warping, cracks, or loose panels. Vinyl siding is popular around here, and those freeze-thaw cycles love to pop panels loose at the bottom where they lock together.
Pressure wash siding, walkways, and your driveway. The humidity we get from the river valley means mildew buildup is almost guaranteed by spring. Professional pressure washing runs $200 to $500 for a typical house, or you can rent a unit from a local hardware store for about $75 a day.

Foundation and Grading

Inspect your foundation for new cracks. Hairline cracks are normal settling, but anything wider than a quarter-inch or cracks that are growing need professional evaluation. Foundation work in our area typically starts around $500 for minor crack repair and can run $5,000 or more for serious structural issues.
Check the grading around your house. Soil should slope away from your foundation on all sides. Winter frost heave can shift the grade, sending water toward your house instead of away from it.
Inspect your sump pump if you have one. Pour a bucket of water in the pit and make sure it kicks on. Spring rains in the Ohio Valley are no joke, and a failed sump pump during an April downpour means a flooded basement.

Interior: What Winter Left Behind

The inside of your house took its own kind of beating over winter. Closed-up homes with furnaces running nonstop create moisture issues, dust buildup, and wear on systems you don't think about until they fail.

Smoke and CO Detectors

Test every smoke detector and carbon monoxide alarm in the house. Replace batteries even if they still chirp. Replace any unit older than 10 years (check the manufacture date on the back).
Make sure you have detectors on every level of your home, including the basement and near sleeping areas. This one is non-negotiable.

Windows and Doors

Remove storm windows and install screens if you still use them. Clean window tracks and lubricate with silicone spray.
Check weatherstripping on all exterior doors. If you can see daylight around a closed door, you're throwing money out that gap every time your AC kicks on. Replacement weatherstripping is a $10 to $30 DIY fix.
Open and close every window. Make sure they operate smoothly and lock properly. Painted-shut windows are a fire safety hazard.

Attic and Insulation

Go up in your attic on a sunny day and look for light coming through the roof. Any light means water can get in too.
Check insulation levels. If you can see the tops of your ceiling joists, you probably need more. The Department of Energy recommends R-38 to R-60 for our climate zone (Zone 4). Blown-in insulation runs about $1 to $2 per square foot installed.
Look for signs of animal entry -- droppings, nesting material, chewed wiring. Squirrels and raccoons love Southern Indiana attics, and they can cause serious damage to wiring and ductwork.

HVAC: Get Ahead of the Heat

Your furnace just worked overtime for four months. Now your AC needs to take over. The transition period is your best chance to service the whole system without emergency pricing or a two-week wait for an appointment.

Schedule a professional HVAC tune-up. This is the single most important thing on this list. A spring AC tune-up in the Louisville area runs $80 to $150, and it catches refrigerant leaks, electrical issues, and worn parts before they leave you sweating in July. Find a local HVAC pro here.
Replace your air filter. If you ran the same filter all winter, it's clogged. A dirty filter makes your system work harder, raises your energy bills, and shortens equipment life. Standard filters cost $5 to $15; high-efficiency MERV 11 or higher filters run $15 to $30.
Clean around your outdoor condenser unit. Cut back any vegetation to at least 2 feet of clearance on all sides. Remove leaves, sticks, and debris that accumulated over winter. Gently rinse the fins with a garden hose (never a pressure washer).
Check your ductwork for visible gaps or disconnections, especially in unconditioned spaces like attics, crawlspaces, and garages. Leaky ducts can waste 20 to 30 percent of your conditioned air. Duct sealing costs $300 to $700 professionally.
Test your thermostat. Switch it to cooling mode and make sure the AC actually kicks on. If you have a programmable or smart thermostat, update your schedule for spring and summer.

Pro Tip: Book your HVAC tune-up in March or early April. Once temperatures hit 80 in late May, every HVAC company in Jefferson, Clark, and Floyd County is slammed. Early birds get same-week appointments and sometimes early-season discounts.

Plumbing: Prevent the Surprises

Frozen pipes, hard water buildup, and water heaters that worked overtime all winter -- plumbing needs attention in spring even if nothing seems wrong on the surface.

Inspect all visible pipes for signs of leaks, corrosion, or frost damage. Check under sinks, around the water heater, and in the basement or crawlspace. Even a small drip wastes thousands of gallons a year and invites mold.
Turn on outdoor faucets and check for leaks at the spigot and inside the house where the pipe comes through the wall. Frost-damaged hose bibs are incredibly common here after a hard winter. Replacing one runs $100 to $250 with a plumber.
Flush your water heater. Sediment builds up at the bottom of the tank, especially with our hard water in Southern Indiana and parts of Louisville. Flushing takes 20 minutes and extends the life of your unit. If your water heater is over 10 years old, start budgeting for a replacement ($1,200 to $2,500 installed for a standard tank unit).
Test your water pressure. Screw a pressure gauge ($10 at any hardware store) onto a hose bib. Normal is 40 to 80 psi. Anything above 80 psi stresses your pipes and fixtures and means you may need a pressure-reducing valve.
Check toilet flappers and fill valves. A running toilet can waste 200 gallons a day. Drop some food coloring in the tank -- if color appears in the bowl within 15 minutes without flushing, your flapper needs replacing. It's a $5 part and a 10-minute fix.

Pro Tip: Know where your main water shut-off valve is and make sure it actually turns. In an emergency, those 30 seconds of fumbling around in the dark can mean the difference between a wet floor and a destroyed basement. If your valve is corroded or stuck, a plumber can replace it for $150 to $300.

Lawn, Garden, and Outdoor Living

The Ohio Valley growing season kicks into gear fast once we get past the last frost, which is typically mid-April for the Louisville metro and a week or two later as you move into the hills of Harrison and Washington counties.

Rake up dead leaves and debris from flower beds and the lawn. Matted leaves suffocate grass and harbor disease. If you have a mower with a bagger, one pass on a high setting does the trick.
Aerate and overseed your lawn if it's thin or patchy. Early spring is the second-best time to do this (fall being the best). Core aeration runs $75 to $200 for a typical lot. Seed with a tall fescue blend, which handles our hot summers and cool winters well.
Apply pre-emergent herbicide before soil temperatures consistently hit 55 degrees. In the Louisville area, that's usually mid-March to early April. This is your shot at preventing crabgrass before it takes over. A bag of granular pre-emergent costs $25 to $50 and covers 5,000 to 15,000 square feet.
Service your lawn mower. Change the oil, replace the spark plug, sharpen or replace the blade, and check the air filter. A sharp blade cuts cleaner and keeps grass healthier. Mower tune-ups at a local shop run $50 to $100.
Inspect your deck or patio. Check for loose boards, popped nails, and rot. Power wash and seal or stain wood decks every 1 to 2 years. A gallon of quality deck stain costs $30 to $50. Professional deck staining runs $500 to $1,500 depending on size.
Check your irrigation system if you have one. Turn it on zone by zone and look for broken heads, leaks, and coverage gaps. A spring start-up from a local irrigation company costs $50 to $100.

Your Spring Action Plan

You don't have to do all of this in one weekend. Here's how I'd break it down:

Weekend 1: Exterior walk-around. Gutters, roof inspection from the ground, foundation check, and grading. Caulk and patch anything obvious.
Weekend 2: Interior. Smoke detectors, windows, weatherstripping, attic inspection. Schedule your HVAC tune-up.
Weekend 3: Plumbing checks. Flush the water heater, test outdoor faucets, check for leaks. Turn on outdoor water and irrigation.
Weekend 4: Lawn and outdoor. Rake, aerate, apply pre-emergent, service the mower. Inspect and clean the deck.

Pro Tip: Print this checklist and tape it to the inside of a kitchen cabinet door. Check things off as you go. There's something deeply satisfying about a completed maintenance checklist, and your home (and your wallet) will be better off for it.

When to Call a Professional

Some of these tasks are straightforward DIY. Others absolutely require a licensed professional. Here's the short version:

Always hire a pro for: roof repairs, HVAC service, electrical work, foundation issues, gas line anything, and major plumbing beyond a simple faucet swap.
Safe for DIY: gutter cleaning (if single-story), caulking, weatherstripping, filter changes, smoke detector maintenance, basic lawn care, and deck cleaning.
Your call: pressure washing, water heater flushing, minor plumbing fixes, and attic insulation top-ups. These are doable if you're handy, but a pro does them faster and catches things you might miss.

The Louisville and Southern Indiana area has plenty of reliable home service professionals who understand the specific challenges of Ohio Valley homes -- the clay soil, the humidity, the wild temperature swings, and the older housing stock you find in places like New Albany, Jeffersonville, and the Highlands.

Ready to knock out your spring checklist? Find trusted local pros in your area and get your home ready for the warm months ahead. A little effort now saves you a lot of headaches (and a lot of money) when summer hits.

Dana Hargrove is a home and garden writer covering the Louisville metro and Southern Indiana. She has spent over a decade helping homeowners maintain, improve, and love their homes. Her work focuses on practical, budget-conscious advice tailored to the Ohio Valley region.

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