When was the boiler last serviced? What did the roof repair cost? Which filter does the heating system take? For most homes, the answers live in somebody's memory and a shoebox of receipts — and both fail exactly when a warranty claim, an insurer, or a buyer asks.
This log turns your home's upkeep into a proper service history: every job recorded with the date it was done, what it cost, who did it, and when it falls due again. Twelve typical entries are filled in to show the pattern, from a boiler service to a replaced tap washer. Add a row the day each job happens and the log quietly becomes proof of care. Each entry takes about two minutes, added while the details are still fresh.
The short version: the table above is a working template, pre-filled with 12 realistic example rows. Edit the examples into your own, add rows as you need them, and print or copy the finished table. Your entries save on this device automatically. The example table is also written out below, so the page works printed or saved.
The Filled-In Example
| Task | Date done | Cost | Done by | Next due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boiler annual service | 2026-09-14 | £110 | Pro / company | 2027-09-14 |
| Gutters cleared | 2026-10-03 | £0 | Me | 2027-04-03 |
| HVAC filter replaced (20×20in) | 2026-08-22 | £18 | Me | 2026-11-22 |
| Smoke alarm batteries (all) | 2026-10-01 | £9 | Partner | 2027-10-01 |
| Chimney swept | 2026-10-10 | £70 | Pro / company | 2027-10-10 |
| Washing machine deep clean | 2026-07-19 | £6 | Me | 2026-10-19 |
| Tap washer replaced (bathroom) | 2026-09-30 | £4 | Me | — |
| Roof inspection | 2025-11-08 | £150 | Pro / company | 2026-11-08 |
| Oven deep clean | 2026-06-27 | £65 | Pro / company | 2026-12-27 |
| Water softener salt topped up | 2026-10-18 | £12 | Partner | 2026-12-18 |
| Fence panels treated (6 panels) | 2026-05-16 | £42 | Family | 2028-05-16 |
| Exterior wall repainted (front) | 2024-08-11 | £480 | Pro / company | 2029-08-11 |
Start the Log: Capture What You Know
- Back-fill from invoices and bank statements — Start with the jobs you can date: search a year of statements for plumbers, roofers and service plans, and give each a row with its real date and cost.
- Ask your tradespeople for their records — Boiler engineers, roofers and electricians keep job histories by address. One phone call often recovers three years of services you would otherwise guess at.
- Photograph every nameplate in the house — Boiler, HVAC, water heater, appliances: the model and serial numbers live on metal plates. Photos in your phone turn future log entries into copy-paste instead of guesswork.
- Write filter and bulb sizes into the task itself — "HVAC filter replaced (20×20in)" is a row your future self thanks you for. Sizes, bulb types and paint colours belong inside the task name, where they cannot get lost.
- Record even the £0 jobs — A gutter you cleared yourself still has a date and a next-due. If only paid work gets logged, half your home's rhythm stays invisible — including the jobs most often forgotten.
- One row per job, even in a package — If a service visit covered the boiler and the radiators, give each its own row with its own next-due. Bundled rows hide the one job that drifts out of cycle.
Record Every Job the Day It Happens
- Log it while the invoice is in your hand — Date, cost and who are exact for about an hour and approximate forever after. The two minutes at the kitchen table is the entire discipline this log needs.
- Set the next-due before you close the row — Every repeating job leaves with its next date attached — annual service, twelve months; filter, three; batteries, twelve. A blank next-due is a job already being forgotten.
- Leave next-due empty for one-off repairs — A replaced tap washer has no schedule; forcing a date invents work. The empty cell is information too: this job is history, not a rhythm.
- Keep the cost honest and complete — Parts plus labour plus the callout fee — the real total. True costs are what make the log useful for budgets, insurance values and deciding whether a repair quote is fair.
- Name the company in the task or keep a note — For pro work, add the firm's name to the task line. When the same fault returns, the log tells you who to call — and who to argue the warranty with.
- File the paperwork behind the row — Invoice into the folder, guarantee card with the manual. The log is the index; the folder is the evidence. Together they answer any question a claim can ask.
Use the Log: Budgets, Warranties and Selling
- Total the year every January — Add the cost column once a year. Most owners are surprised the first time: the number — high or low — turns vague anxiety into a planned maintenance budget.
- Scan next-due monthly, in one minute — Sort or scan the next-due column at the start of each month. Anything inside 30 days gets booked or done before it becomes an emergency at emergency prices.
- Wave the log at warranty disputes — "Serviced annually, here are the dates and the engineer" ends most warranty arguments. Manufacturers cannot claim neglect against a written service history.
- Hand a copy to your insurer — A documented pattern of maintenance — roof inspections, chimney sweeps, alarm batteries — supports claims and shows the care insurers hope for and rarely see proven.
- Print it for buyers when you sell — A home with a service history sells its care. Buyers cannot see maintenance, so the log does the seeing for them — boiler age, roof dates and all.
- Let the log set next year's savings — Big rows repeat on cycles: painting every five years, boiler service yearly. The log's own history is the most honest forecast of what the house will ask for next.
Pro Tips
- Keep the log where the jobs end — a binder by the appliance manuals or a pinned note on your phone. A log stored in a study drawer gets updated twice a year, from memory, wrongly.
- Round costs to the pound, never to "about a hundred". Small honesty compounds: five years of rounded estimates is fiction, five years of real totals is a budget.
- Photograph the log page once a year and keep the photo with your home inventory. If the binder is lost in the same fire as the boiler, the copy still speaks.
- Add a row for every quote you reject, too, with cost as the quote and next-due blank — next time the same job is priced, you have a benchmark.
- The next-due column is the log's engine. Check it whenever you open the log for any reason; thirty seconds of scanning prevents most surprise failures.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between this log and a maintenance calendar?
The calendar looks forward — it says which jobs belong in which month. The log looks backward and forward at once: it proves what was done and when it cost, and its next-due column drives what you book next. Most homes need both, linked.
How far back should I back-fill?
As far as paperwork honestly reaches — usually two to five years from invoices, statements and tradespeople's records. Mark estimates as estimates in the task name rather than inventing precision.
Should renters keep a maintenance log?
Yes, a light one: jobs you did yourself (filters, batteries, garden) and every fault you reported to the landlord, with dates. That record settles deposit arguments about who maintained what, and when.
My log has gaps. Is it still worth keeping?
Absolutely. A partial service history still beats none in a warranty or insurance conversation, and gaps close fast once the day-it-happens habit starts. Begin from today rather than reconstructing forever.
More Templates, Lists and Guides
- All Home Checklists, Calendars & Idea Lists — every list and template in one place
- Home Inventory Template for Insurance — A room-by-room record of what you own with values, serial numbers and photo notes — the list insurers ask for after a claim.
- Plant Watering Schedule Template — Every plant, its light and its watering rhythm in one table, with a last-watered column so nobody guesses.
- Monthly Home Maintenance Calendar — the year of jobs this log records as done
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