Buying A Home
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
What do I need to do to get the house ready for winter?
Hi all! So we've (well, just me! DH is still in Afghanistan) have been in the house for about 6 weeks now. The weather is starting to turn cool (the leaves are changing colors! It's beautiful) but I'm concerned about what I need to do to get the house ready for winter, ie: pipes, and hoses, the a/c unit outside, the trees/bushes (do they need to be trimmed?) and our windows.
I'm from florida, and this is the first time I've ever owned a house, so any help would be REALLY appreciated!!
Re: What do I need to do to get the house ready for winter?
I saw this on The Green Head, and it's what made me think about it. Does everyone have one of these? What do other people use?
http://www.thegreenhead.com/2011/01/faucet-sock.php
You say you are from Florida - where are you now?
I live in N. Michigan and we fertilize the lawn with a winter fertilizer, trim all the bushes, rake the leaves, put away outdoor furniture, drain hoses and put away, (we have a storage building), cut the grass slightly shorter than usual - then drain the lawn mower and store, clean the gutters (remove leaves & debris,
Get ready for winter -- have shovels, show pusher, and ice melt in the garage. Get the snowblower serviced (tune up) and fill with gas, look at doors to see if new weatherstripping is needed. Windows - if they are old - add weatherstripping or use the plastic film kits (they do help). Have the furnace serviced.
I have no experience with AC - we don't have it -never get hot enough to use other than a few days each summer. Your HVAC guy can check and advise you when he services the furnace.
ETA: Turn off the shut off valves to the outdoor faucets - and drain. Those pipes can freeze if you do not do this.
Oh my gosh. Lol. I live in NC, so I doubt it will be as bad as where you live. I do not have any shovels or salt... that's a great idea. I also need an ice scraper for my car, lol.
The house was built in '03, so the windows and doors are still in pretty good shape. I think!
I know where my shut off valve is inside the house - there's a separate one for outside faucets? I will certainly do this. Thank you so much for your advice!
I live in PA, and this is the only thing I've ever done to "winterize" the house, but we don't really have a lot of outdoor stuff (furniture, etc.). If I did, I'd probably bring things inside that couldn't stay out in the cold.
We also usually have the furnace inspected before running it for the season.
And we'll make sure to have some ice melt on hand before there's a snowstorm. My friends in NC tell me that they don't really get snow, but they do get slush that forms a dangerous layer of ice on everything. So ice melt and scrapers are probably not a bad idea.
This is a good list.
Also, if you have a sprinkler system, that needs to be shut off for the winter and blown out (to get all the water out of the pipes). We call a service to do this, it's so much easier and only costs about $30.
We always have our furnace checked each fall, just to clean it and make sure there are no problems or repairs needed. Much easier to deal with the furnace being out in October than in January when it's really cold.
You might want to do some online research about any plants/trees you have in your yard and any special care they might need for the winter. For example, some plants do better if covered with mulch for the winter. As far as perennial flowers, some people suggest leaving the dead foliage for extra protection during the winter, then remove the dead foliage in the spring when new green foliage starts to grow in. Some people like to clean everything up and remove dead stuff in the fall. I'm one of those who likes to clean everything up in the fall to make spring easier.
As for the lawn mower and snow blower, we use a fuel system cleaner that helps get them started after being stored during the off season. If there's stale gas in the mower/snow blower, sometimes they don't start very easy. Any hardware store will have something you can use to clean the engine (it's a liquid you just pour into the fuel tank so it's super easy to use). Also, it's a good idea to get the oil changed on the mower/snow blower at the beginning of the season.
Mr. Sammy Dog
We're in Raleigh and don't do a lot of winter prep. Make sure you have basic tools like something to clear snow from the drive, an ice scraper for the car (or anti-ice spray, I love that stuff). You may want to go ahead and get salt for your front walk if you want to make sure you have it in the event of bad weather.
We get the AC unit serviced twice a year just to get it checked out. We leave the hose connected to the spigot unless it's going to freeze.
Hard freezes are so rare here that the local news will have a warning and tell you what to do if it gets too cold.
Ha - spj - we're from MinneSNOWta...of course our answers are going to be the longest.
OP - what she's referring too is called stabilizer. You'll want to put these in your winter things next Spring/Summer (snowblower) and in your summer things in the fall (lawn mower, etc) - makes them easier to start after sitting in a garage-even a heated one. Make sure we have extra gas in the gas cans in the garage for those big snow falls...good shovels and scrapers. We do nothing with our central air unit - except cover it.
What everyone suggested is what you need to do - cracks, drafts in windows and doors - weatherstrip; some people do plastic the outsides of their windows (kits available everywhere) that can help reduce heating costs ... you might also want to check and see if your energy company will do a check for you - shows how to reduce heating costs around your house. They are either free or not very expensive and well worth it.