Keeping your house well maintained requires organization and effort. While we can’t help you with the actual maintenance we can help you keep track of the tasks that need to be done and when they need attention. You can do this using an Excel worksheet that is free to download and use and it is available for Excel 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013.
To find the worksheet, open Excel and choose File > New (in Excel 2007 click the Office button and click New). In the Search box type home maintenance schedule. When the search locates the home maintenance schedule worksheet click to download it – in Excel 2013 you’ll click it and then click Create.
Take a minute to familiarize yourself with the worksheet. At the top are the Quarterly repairs grouped by the type of repair. So you’ll see plumbing followed by interior items then electrical and appliances and so on. Below that are the Fall (Autumn) maintenance items followed by Spring.
Some items in the list won’t be appropriate for you so decide which ones you do not need and remove them. To do this, click in the appropriate cells in column A and B and press Delete to remove them. By deleting the cell contents you can reuse that line for another maintenance item that you do need and that there is not an entry for.
If you want to delete an item and you don’t need to reuse the space it was in, then delete the entire row. To do this, click on the row number to select the entire row. In Excel 2003 choose Edit > Delete. In Excel 2007, 2010 & 2013 click the Home tab of the Ribbon, click the Delete dropdown icon and choose Delete Sheet Rows.
To add a row for an additional item, click and select one of the rows inside the category that the item is to belong to and, in Excel 2003, choose Insert > Rows. In Excel 2007, 2010 & 2013 choose Insert > Insert Sheet Rows.
To add item details click in a cell and type the information. To change the task details for an existing item, click on the cell containing the task description and type over it or click in the cell and press F2 so you can edit the cell contents. Press Enter when you are done.
If you add a lot of additional text you may need to make the row a little bit taller to fit all the text. To do this, hold your mouse pointer over the line between this row number and the next on the far left of the screen. When the mouse pointer changes to a line with two arrows, double click and the row will resize automatically.
You can use this worksheet two ways. You can record all your maintenance work in the worksheet and store it on your computer. Or you can print a copy of the sheet and fill it in by hand. In either case make sure to save your personalized version by choosing File > Save As, type a name for it and save it in your My Documents folder for safekeeping.
