Exterior maintenance can be easily overlooked, but it's just as important as maintaining your home's interior – if not more so.

Starting from the top, the safest way to inspect the roof is from the ground, using a pair of binoculars so you can see it clearly.

As well as loose or missing roof tiles or slates, look for problems with the chimney stacks (are they leaning or in need of repair?), defective or missing flashing, and TV aerials and satellite dishes that aren’t fixed securely.

Remember to check inside the loft too, noting that the timbers are dry and solid and there’s no evidence of rot, mould or infestations (although bats are protected by law). If you can see daylight coming through the underside of the roof covering, the tiles or slates on the other side are probably missing.

With flat roofs, look out for pooling water and moss building up on the roof, as well as damage to the roof covering. Whether the roof’s flat or pitched, damp patches on the ceilings below are a sign that the roof is in urgent need of repair.

As with anything, if you can spot and rectify a problem early on, you’re more likely to avoid a costly solution later.

When inspecting the roof, don’t forget to check the guttering too. Leaves, plants and other debris should be cleared out, and, if you don’t have them already, you should fit gutter guards or brushes to keep debris out.

Also ensure that the brackets for the guttering are secure, the joints aren’t leaking and any nearby woodwork, such as fascia boards, is sound. If the guttering is metal, it will be prone to rust, which can lead to penetrating damp, so you may want replace it with plastic guttering (although this probably won’t be allowed if the building’s listed).

One of the most important things to look out for is cracks in your home’s walls – they’re unlikely to be subsidence, but don’t take a chance. It’s common to have hairline cracks in the interior walls (lining or wallpaper usually contains them), but if a crack is larger than that or the same crack is visible on both the inside and outside, get an expert to examine it in case it is subsidence.

Diagonal cracks, especially from the corners of windows and door openings, can also be sign of subsidence.

Cracks in exterior render should be filled straightaway to prevent water seeping in and causing damage. If water has got in and some of the render has blown (ie it’s no longer bonded to the wall), it will need to be removed and replaced.

Make sure you use a good quality masonry paint, like those by Sandtex and Dulux, to cover exterior wall repairs and protect exterior walls from the elements.

Both companies also do exterior wood paint in a wide range of colours, so you can easily spruce up wooden windows and doors, giving them a great new look and years of protection.

If exterior woodwork isn’t properly protected, it will, of course, eventually rot.

Rot can be treated, but as with most things in your home, prevention is always better than cure.