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Seen from behind, a person with a long dark braid, in a slate-blue work shirt and a coral rubber glove, kneels on a bathroom floor working grout into white wall tile with a float, a bucket and sponge beside them.

Indoors, four seasons a year

Keep water where it belongs and the house running quietly.

Groutena tracks the inside of a house through the calendar: the grout and caulk in wet rooms, the short water lines in the kitchen and laundry, furnace filters, the water heater, and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Each season gets its own checklist, written so a weekend afternoon is enough.

See the season listsGet started
  • 4season checklists, one page each
  • Openevery list and guide reads without signing up
  • Indoorwet rooms, water lines, air and alarms
  • Info onlyno repairs, no installs, no house calls

Most indoor damage starts small and slow

Houses rarely fail all at once. A caulk bead around a tub lifts at one corner and water finds the subfloor for a year. A washing machine hose ages behind the machine where nobody looks. A furnace filter turns gray in October and stays there until spring. None of these is hard to fix early, and all of them get expensive when they are found late.

Groutena is built around that pattern. Instead of a long list of every possible chore, it groups the inside of a house into a few systems that deal with water and air, then spreads the checks across the year so each season has a short, realistic list.

The systems Groutena follows

  • Tile, grout and caulk in bathrooms and kitchens
  • Sink, dishwasher, fridge and washer supply lines
  • Furnace, heat pump and air conditioning filters
  • Tank water heaters and their relief valves
  • Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
  • Indoor humidity and frozen-pipe risk

How to use the season lists

  1. 1

    Open this season's page

    Each list has six to eight tasks, a table of warning signs and links to the deeper guides.

  2. 2

    Work through it on one weekend

    Most tasks take minutes. The ones that take longer, like recaulking a tub, come with a step-by-step example.

  3. 3

    Call a licensed pro when the list says so

    Some findings, such as a stuck relief valve or hollow tile, belong with a licensed plumber or electrician. Groutena points them out and stops there.

The four season checklists

How the year is split
Spring March, April and May7 tasksSummer June, July and August6 tasksFall September, October and November7 tasksWinter December, January and February7 tasks

Spring covers wet rooms and laundry hoses, summer covers humidity and appliance water, fall covers alarms and the water heater, and winter covers frozen pipes and dry air.

Longer guides

All guides

Why the inside of the house gets its own calendar

Exterior chores tend to announce themselves. Leaves pile up, snow arrives, paint peels where everyone can see it. The inside of a house is different. The parts that matter most for water and air sit in cabinets, behind appliances, above ceilings and in utility closets, so they only get attention when something has already gone wrong.

Tying those checks to the seasons gives them a natural trigger. The first warm week is a good time to change the filter before cooling starts. The weekend the clocks change is an easy reminder for alarms. The first hard freeze is the night to open the sink cabinets on outside walls.

What Groutena does not do

Groutena is an information website. It does not repair, install or inspect anything, it does not send workers, and it does not take job requests or pass names to trades or stores. When a finding needs hands-on work, the checklists say so plainly and suggest the kind of licensed professional to look for, so you can make that call yourself.

Guides describe common household setups. Your home, local codes and the instructions printed on your equipment always come first.

Words that come up a lot

Full glossary
Change of plane
A corner where two surfaces meet. It gets flexible caulk, because rigid grout cracks there.
Supply line
The short hose from a shutoff valve to a faucet, toilet or appliance.
MERV
The 1 to 16 scale printed on furnace filters for how fine a particle they catch.
Relief valve
The lever-topped valve on a water heater that lets water out if heat or pressure climbs too high.
Leak indicator
The tiny dial on a water meter that turns whenever any water is moving.
Condensate line
The small pipe that carries water pulled from the air by an air conditioner to a drain.

Common questions

All questions
Does Groutena send anyone to my house?

No. Groutena publishes checklists and guides only. It does no repair or installation work and does not pass your details to anyone who does.

Is there a sign-up before I can read the lists?

No. You can read every list and guide without giving us anything. Signing up only matters if you would like an emailed checklist link or texts.

Can I get only the season reminders?

Yes. The two text boxes are separate and both start blank. Tick one, both or neither.

How many texts will I get?

Up to 8 messages per month. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out at any time.

Want a nudge when the next season's list is up?

Tick the season reminder box on the Get started page. Both text boxes are optional and start blank.

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