[alistairSH]

Yard work, gutter cleaning, power washing exterior, cleaning windows, bi-annual HVAC service, exterior paint (especially if the house has any wood) and trim upkeep.

And as the house ages, you get things like repainting interior rooms, more frequent plumbing issues, major HVAC repairs, roof replacement, repaving driveway, electrical upgrades, remodeling, etc.

We downsized to a townhome to avoid some of that (half the walls are shared, so no exterior upkeep for those; smaller yard; fewer rooms).

[darth_avocado]

If you have a big enough yard, yard work in itself is a constant stream of work even if you have all the right equipment

[blackjack_]

I have 2/3rd of an acre, but most of it is a 45 degree hill, so it's more like a full acre equivalent of flat ground (except drastically more of a pain). Pulling weeds up several hundred feet of steep hillside that grow back constantly is a punishment worthy of Sisyphus.

It hadn't been done for about 5 years when we moved in, so one of the neighbors spent 200 hours cleaning it up for us. Not joking, 200 hours of labor. Scotch Broom is a literal nightmare.

[chongli]

Why not get rid of most of the grass (especially on the hill) and put in a perennial garden of hardy (for your zone) shrubs and trees?

[bell-cot]

> Why not get rid of...

Soil erosion.

[alistairSH]

There are other ground covers and plant options that don’t require weekly mowing. Creeping junipers and native bunch grasses come to mind.

[bell-cot]

True. But on a large and very steep hillside - "2/3rd of an acre, but most of it is a 45 degree hill" - it can be extremely difficult to replace the plants holding onto the soil, without experiencing horrible erosion during the transition.

[eudamoniac]

Weeds are pioneers, helping the soil, when nothing else can grow (or is allowed to). First of all why do you need to get rid of those weeds? Second of all, if you improve the soil and go through successive plantings of larger things, the weeds will be outcompeted.

[asdff]

You could just not do any of that stuff. Most people don't power wash their exterior or clean their windows. They don't call in hvac service, maybe just change the furnace or ac filter and probably plenty don't even know to do that. Exterior paint has become pretty rare in places that see weather but even then you can let it go to hell. Plenty do. Maybe some trim board will rot. Ehh. Priced in probably already when you bought it with that. Driveway you can also let go to hell, plenty of people use actual gravel or dirt. Roof replacement, plenty of people let that go too long. Repainting interiors, again something you don't have to ever do.

Is it good to do these maintenance items? Sure. But also, the house isn't going to come down if they aren't done. You go around your city right now you will find very few homes are actually upkept to this level. Most see the bare minimum to avoid the city fining you for the grass being too long, and many are sold in whatever state they are in.

[netule]

To add to the list: Replacing bad wood, pest service, aging appliances, fence maintenance, septic emptying (depending on your location), flooring wear and replacement, grouting and caulking, pest control, exterior cleaning, etc.

It can occasionally feel like an endless stream of tasks.

[ragall]

It never ceases to surprise me how North American homes are just a source of time wasting for the owners. I grew up in Italy and we never had to do any of that (except repainting the rooms once every 20 years with my father).

[duskdozer]

How you you occupy yourself without spending four hours every other day mowing the lawn (gas, ride-on) and then blowing the clippings and dust back and forth with your leafblower (gas, backpack) and then spreading fertilizer and chemicals to make sure you can continue mowing the lawn so frequently? My neighbor would lose his mind!

[ragall]

The main source of the need of maintenance in NA is the choice of construction materials and house design.