Building maintenance follows the year: inspect every building in spring after the snow melt or rains, repair in the dry summer, weatherproof and clean chimneys in autumn, and check monthly in winter. A weekly walk-round leaves a new leak unseen for 3.5 days on average, which is longer than the 24 hours after which wet-weather damage cascades, so every storm calls for an extra look.
Part of Building Maintenance Schedules
A seasonal inspection cycle is the yearly pattern of looking, repairing, preparing and checking that keeps buildings sound without a hardware store, an insurer or a contractor.
Almost All Maintenance Is About Water
The maintenance guide puts it plainly: water rots wood, dissolves earth plaster, erodes foundations, cracks stone and masonry when it freezes, and invites mould and insects, so almost all maintenance is about keeping water out and draining it away when it gets in. Its own estimate is that 90% of building failures trace back to water; the corpus gives no source for that figure, so read it as a rule of emphasis and not a measurement. The yearly cycle is built around the seasons in which water does its damage and the seasons in which it can be repaired.
| Season | Job | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| Spring, after snow melt or rains | Inspect roofs, walls, foundations and water systems | Winter has revealed every weakness (Spring Inspection Checklist) |
| Summer | Repair what the spring walk found | Dry, warm weather is needed for plaster, thatch and roof work |
| Autumn | Weatherproof, clear drains, clean chimneys, stock repair materials | Before the cold or wet season (Autumn Preparation Checklist) |
| Winter | Quick monthly checks: snow, ice, condensation, vents, exits | Damage in winter cannot be repaired, only contained (Mid-Winter Emergency Checks) |
Worked Example: How Long A Leak Goes Unseen
The roof guide’s 24-hour rule says that a leak left more than 24 hours in wet weather soaks structural timber, weakens joints and promotes fungal growth (Roof Systems). The maintenance guide assigns a crew to walk every building once a week.
- A leak starts at a random moment between walks. Worst case it starts just after a walk and runs 7 days.
- Average: 7 ÷ 2 = 3.5 days, or 84 hours.
- Compared with the 24-hour limit, 84 hours is 84 ÷ 24 = 3.5 times too long.
A weekly walk therefore finds most leaks too late to prevent damage, and cannot be the only safeguard. The fix is a second trigger: an extra look inside every building (ceilings, corners, the thatch from below) after each heavy rain or wind, by whoever is at home, plus the weekly walk. The ceiling stains the spring checklist looks for are how a past leak shows itself.
What You Need
- A calendar that fixes the four seasonal jobs to dates tied to the local weather, not to the month
- A communal log in the gathering hall (Community Maintenance Rotation)
- A short list of tools and repair materials (Systems & Tools)
- A crew with at least one person who can judge a roof
Method: Run The Year
Step 1: Fix the four dates in the calendar: spring walk, summer repair weeks, autumn preparation, monthly winter checks.
Step 2: Walk every building in spring with the checklist and log each defect as urgent, plan for summer, or monitor.
Step 3: Repair in order of severity in summer, urgent first.
Step 4: Prepare in autumn, starting with drains and chimneys.
Step 5: Check monthly in winter, and after any storm in any season.
Step 6: Write it down. The log is the settlement’s memory of what each building did last year.
Common Mistakes
- Waiting for spring to look at a known leak. The 24-hour rule applies in winter too.
- Inspecting without repairing. A log of defects with no summer work is a list of future failures.
- Treating the weekly walk as enough. See the arithmetic above.
- Skipping the autumn drains. The first heavy rain tests them.
Safety
The inspector's weight meets the rotten member
A rotted rafter, deck or sill fails under the weight of the person looking at it. Inspect from the ground and from inside first, probe suspect timber with a pointed tool before trusting it, never go on a roof alone or in rain, ice or wind, and use a ladder footed and tied (Roof Maintenance).
What’s Next
- Learn next: Spring Inspection Checklist — the first and biggest walk
- Combine with: Roof Maintenance — where most of the year’s work goes