MaintainlyWhat a home Maintenance Score actually measures, and how to raise yours
A to-do list tells you what is left. It does not tell you how you are doing. Twelve open tasks could mean a neglected house or a well-run one where twelve things are simply not due yet, and the list looks identical either way.
A maintenance score answers the second question. This is how Maintainly computes its Maintenance Score, what a good number looks like for a real house, and which actions move it fastest, with the same logic you can apply on paper if you never open the app.
A Maintenance Score measures how much of what is due has been done, weighted by how far overdue each item is and by whether it is a safety task. Nothing is lost for tasks that are not due yet. Eighty and above means the home is in great shape; below forty means safety items have been overdue for weeks. The fastest way up is always the oldest safety task.
The idea: measure lateness, not volume
The mistake most scoring systems make is to count. Ten tasks done out of twenty reads as fifty percent, which punishes a homeowner for having a thorough plan and rewards one who tracks almost nothing. Maintainly does the opposite. A task that is not due yet contributes nothing negative, however many of them there are; only lateness costs points.
That single rule changes behaviour. Adding the full 50-task library to your plan does not tank your score, because none of the new tasks is overdue on the day you add it. Ignoring the plan for a season does, because tasks quietly cross their due dates and start counting against you, more each week.
What goes into the number
- Overdue tasks, each weighted by how many days late it is. One day overdue barely registers; a month overdue costs real points; a task that has been ignored for a season costs the most it can.
- Safety tasks count double. Smoke and CO alarms, the dryer vent, the gas appliance service, the extinguisher, radon. These are the ones with a consequence that is not financial (see the nine safety tasks), so an overdue one hurts the score roughly twice as much as an overdue filter.
- Due-soon tasks nudge the score down a little before they are late, so the number starts to move before the situation does. That is deliberate: the score is meant to be a warning light, not a post-mortem.
- Recent completions lift it. Each task marked done in the last stretch adds a small credit, so a week of catching up is visible immediately rather than only once the overdue list empties.
What a good score looks like on a real house
The bands are the same ones the app shows on the ring. 80 to 100, great shape: nothing is meaningfully overdue and safety items are current. Most homes sit here for the first month after setup because everything starts fresh. 60 to 79, good, a few to do: a couple of routine tasks have slipped by a week or two, which is normal life. 40 to 59, needs attention: something has been overdue for a month or more, or a safety task has slipped. Below 40, falling behind: safety tasks have been overdue for weeks and the plan has stopped being followed.
The useful comparison is not with other people’s houses but with your own score last month. Maintainly Pro keeps a weekly history for exactly that reason; the direction matters more than the level.
The fastest ways to raise it
- Do the oldest safety task first. It carries double weight and the largest lateness penalty, so it is nearly always the single biggest jump available. The home screen’s "next best action" card is chosen this way.
- Clear the small overdue ones in a batch. Filter, softener salt, detector test, extinguisher glance: twenty minutes on a Saturday morning typically moves a score ten to fifteen points because each was cheap to do and expensive to leave.
- Reschedule honestly rather than ignore. If the chimney sweep cannot come until November, move the task to November. A rescheduled task is not overdue; an ignored one is. The score is measuring your plan against reality, so keep the plan real.
- Record what you actually did. If you replaced the filter and forgot to log it, the score is wrong in your disfavour. Marking done from the lock-screen reminder takes one tap.
- Remove tasks you will never do. If you sold the car or drained the pool, delete those tasks. A plan full of impossible items produces a score that measures nothing.
Why a number beats a list, psychologically
Lists grow. Every item added is a small weight, and a long list produces the avoidance it is supposed to prevent. A score is bounded. It cannot get longer, it can only go up or down, and going up is a clear, finite act: do the one thing at the top. That is the reason the app puts the ring on the home screen and shows the number moving the moment you finish a task, with the change in points beside it. Seeing "+6" is a different experience from seeing a checkbox tick.
It also gives you something honest to share. A screenshot of a to-do list means nothing to anyone else. "My home is at 87" is a statement with a scale behind it, which is why the score card is what the app offers when you tap share.
Doing it without an app
You can approximate this on paper. List your tasks with due dates. Each month, for every overdue task add one point per week overdue, doubled for safety items, and cap each task at ten. Subtract the total from 100. It is cruder than the real calculation and it will not remind you of anything, but it captures the thing that matters: lateness weighted by consequence, and nothing charged for work that is not due.
How this differs by country
United States
The safety weighting maps onto US fire-code expectations: NFPA recommends monthly smoke and CO alarm tests and yearly battery changes, and dryer fires peak in winter. A US home with central air and a furnace carries the most filter tasks of the four markets, so filter lateness is the most common reason a US score drifts into the 60s.
United Kingdom
For UK homes the boiler service is the safety task that dominates the score in autumn, because it is annual, Gas Safe work and most often booked late. Landlords have a legal annual Gas Safety Record deadline, which the app treats as a safety task; owner-occupiers get the same weighting because the CO risk is identical.
Australia
Australian scores move on a different calendar: the seasonal tasks flip, so the winter items fall due in May and the gutter and roof checks before the wet season. Termite inspections are not in the library yet, so add them as a custom yearly task; in most of the country they belong in the safety tier of your own plan.
Canada
Canadian homes carry the heaviest freeze-protection load, and those tasks have a short window: a hose bib left connected into November is not a slipped filter, it is a burst pipe. The score treats them as ordinary tasks, so use the freeze warning alert as the real deadline and do them the week it fires.
Set these up in Maintainly
Each one becomes a reminder on your phone, timed for your climate and country. Free, no account needed.
Common questions
What is a good home maintenance score?
In Maintainly, 80 or above means nothing meaningful is overdue and safety tasks are current. 60 to 79 is normal life with a couple of slipped tasks. Below 60 means something has been overdue for a month or a safety task has slipped.
Does adding more tasks lower my score?
No. Only overdue and due-soon tasks affect it. Adding the whole library on day one leaves the score where it was, because nothing new is late yet.
Why did my score drop when I did nothing?
Because a task crossed its due date. The score measures lateness, so it moves on its own as time passes; that is the point of it. Open the app and the task at the top of the home screen is the one that moved it.
How do I raise my maintenance score quickly?
Do the oldest safety task, then batch the small overdue routine ones. Reschedule anything you genuinely cannot do yet rather than leaving it overdue, and delete tasks for equipment you no longer have.
Stop tracking this by hand
Maintainly turns everything in this article into a plan for your home, drops what does not apply to you, and reminds you before each task is due.
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