Notes on home maintenance
Writing on home upkeep, breaker panels, and keeping the record of a house somewhere the whole household can reach it. By Jay Wilson, who builds Tobi.
How often to clean your gutters
Clean your gutters at least twice a year, usually spring and fall: when trees and storms mean more often, the signs you are overdue, and how to remember both cleanings.
How often to flush your water heater
Flush a tank water heater once a year, or about every six months with hard water: the signs sediment is building up, when to call a plumber, and how to remember the yearly flush.
How often to test smoke alarms
Test every smoke alarm once a month, change replaceable batteries once a year, and replace the whole alarm at 10 years: how to test one, and how to remember the monthly check.
How often to clean your dryer vent
Clean the dryer vent once a year and the lint screen every load, sooner if drying slows: the signs of a clog, and how to remember the yearly one.
How to share home maintenance with your partner
How to share home maintenance with your partner instead of letting it live in one head: one shared list, reminders that reach both of you, and a record of who did what.
The home maintenance schedule that actually survives real life
A short home maintenance schedule you can actually keep: the dozen jobs that repeat, how often each one comes up, what stays a one-off, and how a shared household keeps the schedule alive.
How to keep track of home contractors
What to record for every plumber, HVAC tech, and electrician you hire, how to keep those notes after the invoice vanishes, and how to find them again next time.
How often to change your furnace filter
How often to change a furnace filter by thickness, what makes one dirty faster, how to check and change it in a minute, and how to stop forgetting.
Electrical panel numbering explained: how breaker slots are numbered
Learn how breaker panel numbers work. See odd and even columns, tandem breakers, and double-pole breakers.
New homeowner checklist: what the previous owner never wrote down
A first-month checklist for a house you just bought: the breaker panel, the model numbers, the service history, the shutoffs, and the alarm dates nobody handed you.
Tobi is on the App Store
Tobi 1.0.0 is available on the App Store for iPhone. One shared record of your home: maintenance tasks, the breaker panel, and contractor history.
What does this breaker control? Mapping an unlabeled panel
Learn how to find out what each breaker controls in an unlabeled breaker box, map the circuits safely, and handle unknowns with a printable directory.
How to label your electrical panel the right way
Learn how to find out what every breaker controls, write circuit labels people can trust, and print a directory that fits your panel door.
What is Tobi? A home maintenance app your whole household shares
Tobi keeps one shared record of your home: the maintenance log, the electrical panel schedule, contractor history, and reminders everyone can see.
Home maintenance, finally shared.
Tobi gives your whole household one place for the maintenance log, electrical panel schedule, and upcoming tasks, with a full history of who did what and when.
