It's easy to tune out, but a constant drip wastes water every day and is usually a sign of a worn washer or valve. A running toilet often just needs a new flapper, a quick and inexpensive fix. Left alone, worn parts can fail completely and leak where you can't see them. 2. Cracked caulk around tubs and showers. Caulk keeps water from getting behind your tiles. Once it cracks or peels, water can seep into the wall and subfloor, leading to mold and rot. Scraping out old caulk and running a fresh bead takes about an hour. Repairing a rotted subfloor takes a great deal longer. 3. Clogged HVAC filters. A dirty filter makes your heating and cooling system work harder, which raises energy bills and wears out parts sooner. Check your filters every season and replace them when they look grey. 4. Overflowing gutters. When gutters overflow, water pools around your foundation. Over time that can mean basement leaks, damaged planting and cracked paths. Clearing gutters in spring and fall, and making sure downspouts drain away from the house, is one of the cheapest ways to protect your home. 5. Lint in the dryer vent. Lint builds up in the dryer hose and vent over time. Your dryer gets slower and less efficient, and a clogged vent is a well-known fire risk. Clean both the connection behind the dryer and the flap outside at least once a year. None of these jobs is difficult. The hard part is remembering to do them, every season, year after year. That's where we come in: our seasonal visits catch the small things early, so they never become big ones.