With the closing of our family cottage last weekend and the frigid night temperatures we endured I have come to two realizations.
Number one – don’t wait until Thanksgiving long weekend to close the cottage next year. We keep trying to stretch it further and further hoping for a warm weekend so we can enjoy the beautiful Fall colours, but guess what, more often than not, we freeze instead!
Number two – It’s time to get the house ready for the winter.
Here are some tips for winterizing your house and property.
- Furnace – if you haven’t yet, turn it on and make sure it works. The last thing you need is to find out it doesn’t work on the first really cold day. Have it cleaned and inspected to make sure it’s in good shape for the heating season. The better shape it’s in, the more efficient it will be and the more money you will save.
- Insulation and drafty areas– is your home well insulated? Have you been thinking about adding some insulation and filling drafty places? Do that now before you lose valuable heat and drive your heating bill through the roof.
- Roof – speaking of roof, what about the gutters and eaves. Check those for blockage by leaves and debris. You may think who cares about them, nobody can see it, but having a blocked gutter can cause ice to form causing a back up of water into your house when it melts. Not to mention the damage the ice could cause to the eaves. So by just scooping out the leaves you can save yourself lots of aggravation.
- Fireplace – do you have a fireplace? It’s a good time now to have it cleaned and to have the chimney inspected. A blocked chimney can be a dangerous situation either causing a backup of smoke, creosote, and other harmful chemicals. Chimney fire is also a risk. If you have a woodstove, take care of that too.
- Windows – if you have storm windows, it’s time to install them. If you have drafty windows but no time or finances to replace them, there are kits that you can buy which includes plastic sheeting that is stretched across the window and a blow dryer is used to cause it to make it adhere to the window, blocking wind from getting in.
- Carbon Monoxide detector – with the furnace coming back on and the use of fireplaces, the risk of carbon monoxide returns, therefore check your detector to make sure it is functional. Change the battery in that and the smoke detector.
- Outdoor furniture – outside furniture needs to either be brought in or covered to be ready for snow, wind and bad weather
- Flower bulbs – time to plant spring blooming bulbs and to bring in your bulbs that won’t survive the winter. You can layer your bulbs in newspaper or dry mulch for the winter in a box and store for the winter in a cool dry place.
- Garden Hose – bring it inside or store it in a place where it won’t get damaged by the cold. An exposed hose can get brittle from the cold and crack over the winter causing holes and leakage.
- Cover plants – cover your trees and plants before first frost to make sure they have a good chance to survive our chilly winters.
It seems like a lot of work but remember that a bit of work now will prevent a lot more work and expense later on. And don’t forget, get the snow tires installed before the first snow flies!
