Getting the House Ready for Winter

Silly article but the comments have everything thr article lacks--wit and real information. What kind of homeowner needs a newspaper article to tell them to buy their wood for the winter (and seasoned wood in the fall?? That's for the grasshoppers, not the ants. New Englanders know better than that. You buy green wood in the spring, stack it for good air flow and let it dry) or have their regularly chimney cleaned?

If you have chickens give some of the leaves to the chickens. They love picking through them for bugs and when they are done use the manure enhanced leaves in a compost pile.

In San Diego preparing for winter means shutting the windows halfway. Snow and cold is something you visit, not something you live in.

Smoke detector batteries last five years or more. When they start getting weak, the smoke detector emits a regular beep, for at least one month. Change batteries when you hear the beep. Once a year press the test button to be doubly sure the batteries are OK. Only the people who make or sell batteries tell you to change them more often.

Mr. O’Brien said. “Crank your heat up during those weeks.” This advice is totally wrong and wastes money and contributes to global warming. A room or home with a single old fashioned 60 watt bulb turned on will stay above freezing in a pinch. You can also point a fan at a bad spot, like where pipes tend to freeze. Just like farmers do, moving air prevents freezing. But, frankly, just setting your thermostat to 70° F on a cold day (or any winter day!) should do the trick. On a very cold night, just let a pencil lead thin (the lead, not the pencil!) trickle of cold water come out of the lowest facet in your home. Turning up the heat is just dumb and wastes a lot of energy and is unhealthy. One other thing to do is to get an energy audit of your home. Often at no cost from your utility. I did and added in insulation where I could, replaced old weather stripping and replaced an old door. These inexpensive things, along with using LED and CFL bulbs, a smart thermostat (the Emerson Sensi is a good deal and easy to use) and then later replacing an old (unrepairable) furnace/AC system with a newer one (which are inherently more efficient now); saved me hundreds of dollars with the cheapest stuff giving me the biggest savings for the buck.

Just want to give a shout-out to the excellent McQuillan Brothers of St Paul, who have been tending boilers like they were new-born infants since 1883.

Firewood - in my neighborhood in the Hudson Valley, wood burning as a heat source is King. For many, it's not that it may be more economical but because they love it. Amazingly, many cut and split their own. Did I mention, they love it? Well built new homes, retain the heat well. Those houses have state of the art heating systems, but, many use their wood stoves all winter. As for insects, I've learned and observed that the wood must to be stored elevated and allow air circulation. No insects! Mice don't care for it either. For bark flakes, a wood stove vacuum is handy. Drafts- for spots hard to weatherstrip like antique windows, Mortite Finger Caulk is great. Come spring, removes as easily as when applied. Gutters- OK, this is a biggie. Highly, highly recommend stainless steel mesh that a reputable company installs. You will never worry about this difficult, dangerous task again. The upfront cost is worth it if you can afford it. Before you know it, it pays for itself. Check out Brothers Who Do Gutters. No personal affiliation with this firm. All in all, Fall tasks are must do's. Here and there, when you get outside and moving, they can be energizing. Cuts a few calories too.

Safety on ladders cannot be stressed enough. I know someone who fell off a ladder last fall and had a broken wrist, a rib, sternum, and compression fractures of three vertebrae. When he was being released after surgery to repair the wrist the post-op nurse mentioned that their busy season was approaching. She then said "Christmas lights." So he bought extensions that can go on a leaf blower to blow leaves out of the gutters while remaining on solid ground.

We did all these things back in September here in Alaska. Seems like our buildings, plumbing, etc. are a little better designed for a cold climate. I actually enjoy getting out my winter survival gear, changing from summer tires to studded, finding my ice cleats, putting foam insulators over the outside faucets (even though their shut-off valves are located inside the house), and ensuring that the furnace (which we use in very month) is running well. But thanks anyway for the entertaining read!

Plants have seasonal pruning needs, in other words, by no means are all plants to be pruned in the fall, many require spring pruning. Fall pruning may not give a plant enough time to seal the cut and some plants require growth for winter protection (e.g., ornamental grasses, Montauk daisy). So check before you prune.

Glad I don't hav to do any of that!!

I am totally with those that enjoy all the preparation needed to get ready for winter. The article is a little lame, but it has the right spirit. There are things to do. Just the sense of seasonal change is something to behold. I could never live in anything other than a 4 season climate. It just wouldn't suit me. Went to California a couple of times. Totally out of sink with the seasons and the ocean was on the wrong side, always. You get used to things, but you should never take them for granted. Following some kind or regimen is always the best thing to do. Figure out the problems and solve them before winter gets ripping. Winter is a much unappreciated season. There are many winter sports, and if you just lay outside in a snow bank for a while you will probably lose weight. Food does taste better, and the winter is the time to design. Bring out your creativity, and bring the outdoors in...

Watching some contractor scams on youtube is highly enlightening. Being a home owner is hard enough with all the expenses, and on top of that, people who scam you with false explanations and promises and, hidden costs, just make regular maintenance jobs all the more daunting.

Future home owner next month! Single gal, cape cod with nerves on edge! Reading ALL of the comments, saving article and downloading HomeZada! Thank you everyone.

This is all good advice, but if you live in a house for any length of time it is just common sense!

I love the idea of leaving the leaves on the flower beds as a natural mulch,but we have hoards of slugs and snails here and potent slug bait has been outlawed. So if I'm gonna keep the leaves on the flower beds, the first step is to quickly rake leaves out of the beds and check for snail and slugs eggs. I remove them with a trowel or gloved hand and throw them out. Then I can put the shredded leaves on the flower beds and not be breeding slugs all winter long.

I bought a leaf mulcher a few years ago and it is a very useful machine. Only $100 or so and it converts tons of leaves quickly into a fine mulch for flower beds and shrubs. And with a light duty extension cord, you can move it around the yard to where you pile up the leaves rather than trying to rake the leaves to some central spot.

During the winter months families huddle around the fireplace, trying to stay warm. A good time to prepare your house is Fall unless temperatures exceed 40 Celsius in some states. However, you could contact businesses to hire them for maintenance and heating repair including insulation.

Also check your carbon monoxide detectors. Towns and cities usually have bylaws that outline acceptable carbon monoxide detectors.

Hard to understand why u use universities these self-evident things: as the wood could attract insects, according to Michigan State University Extension. Quite expensive professor and working team for things what are known so long wood has been used inside houses, wood has insects. Other thing is that mess, more wood inside more mess, mess means always pests and vermin. Unhealthy.

It’s hard to think about maintaining the boiler when we’re still using the AC daily theoughout the month of October because the outside temps are in the 70’s.

It's a very, very poorly designed house that can't take turning the thermostat down without the pipes freezing! You got some major upgrades to do if you have to keep the house set higher than 60F in order to keep pipes from reaching 32F. The good news is the cost savings from those upgrades should pay off very quickly if that's the situation.

Interesting day for me for this article. For the first time since I married, 46 years ago, I have a house to think of. Not in the way all of you are thinking of them though. My older brother lived in our parents retirement home after he retired, they were long gone. He’d never taken care of a house. The house we grew up in got frost crystals on the inside of the windows (beautiful things I miss them). If you were cold, you put on more clothes. We opened windows for sleeping at night except in the bitterest cold, then we did for 10 minutes to air the place out. Old New England family. Everyone else is still scared of ‘night’ air. This year my brother, after several strokes, has moved to a specialty assisted living. We are now in charge of a destroyed home. Town says it must come down. We are trying to salvage what we can. It’s, I’m told, I’m not allowed in, full of black mold. It has a leak somewhere, trying to get the ‘community assoc’ to shut off the water seems futile, but, it’s their water they are wasting. Got an email from a neighbor, about how nice my brother was, talked to him just before he was taken to the hospital. Now would we like him to close up the house for the winter (garage door destroyed) so we put a hasp & lock on the basement door to keep people out (can’t be vandalized any vandal will take their lives in their hands going in), did we hide the key in the garage. Small city we may be, but, stupid not. Key is with us. Just shut off the water please.

In our neighborhood, part of winter prep are a few block clean ups. Not having rotting leaves under the snow makes shoveling snow easier and walking safe.

Great tips, thanks for both the article and reader suggestions.

After dealing with a poorly constructed 70's colonial in No. VA for 25 years, cleaning gutters, insulating pipes to avoid freezing, suffering with drafty rooms, stressing about commuting to work on slick or unplowed streets, my husband and I retired to the Blue Ridge of central VA. We live in a new house, geothermal cooling/heating, lots of wind on our property to blow the leaves elsewhere, and most importantly, lots of time to watch the snowfall and actually enjoy being housebound. Winter takes on new meaning...and we are thankful every day.

Having been born in the tropics but long ago transported to winterland, I learned the ways to cope and deal with the low thermometer readings, as well as to half master the intricacies of maneuvering through slippery icy roads and snow banks. For me now, as the winter approaches, I start to mentally make the list of book titles that will be the reading plan while siting next to the fireplace, with the sound of soft chords, enlightening the background while engrossed in the page tuning and along with it, enjoying a cup of hot chocolate. Or when the thermometer deeps farther, then share a reviving dose of some spirit with your loved one, whose company makes winter nights even a warmer one. With the passing of years, winter has changed meaning and also style. Children are long gone and on their own. Tobogganing and sliding down the slopes are things of the distant past. Never Ski. Now retired, snowfalls are watched from afar, and with a different perspective than when dreading driving to work through treacherous weather and traffic. Nowadays, the blinding dropping of snowflakes are watched through the windows, while in the background the blaring chords of a Johan Strauss waltz harmonize the whitening frigid outdoor event. A warm hug. The soul smiles. The chimney, the gutters, boiler, the pipes, the windows, all checked in tip top shape, thanks to the professional hired hand. Meanwhile in the homely background, Strauss' Voices of Spring, rise in a tall note. Happy Winter!

I moved to Florida. No problems!

This is an entertaining way to cool off after a bike ride at 81 ‘F

You mention windows and doors, but you've left off the one door that's the heaviest moving object in a home and can create problems if not properly maintained -- the garage door. If your door hasn't been serviced within the past year, do yourself a favor and contact a QUALIFIED professional to inspect the door and service if necessary. There are some small maintenance duties such as lubricating rollers and hinges a DIYer can perform, but leave the big stuff to the pros. Garage doors and their related parts -- especially the springs -- are not for amateurs. They can cause serious injury or even death. Again, if in doubt, call a PRO. Check out their credentials first.

Move to Palm Beach County FL. Winter checklist: 1 - take 2 sweatshirts and 2 sweaters down from top shelf in closet 2 - send sweaters to dry cleaner at end of season (if they were worn) 3 - wash & dry sweatshirts as needed 4 - remind my sister in NJ that it is 83F on one of her snow day commutes to NYC 5 - compare weather with my brother in Palm Springs CA 6 - remembering the years in NY & NJ driving in snow storms or on ice

We moved from a condo in The City to a house in suburbia when our kid was 6 years old. Within the first month or two, we had a house-related problem. As my husband and I discussed what we needed to do and how do we find people to call, our kid says, "Just call the front desk." I miss condo living........

Surprised to see old-tech storm windows mentioned in the article. Didn't think anyone had them anymore in 2017. They were not designed to keep the cold/heat out of a home no matter how much weather-stripping you add to them. I own an 1118 sqft 1-family ranch home. Back in 2004 I stripped off the shakes down to the original 1960 plywood. Ripped out the original wood windows and installed easy to clean Low-E double pane windows. The exterior was wrapped in Tyvek and then ¾" foam installed over the Tyvek, followed by vinyl siding. My heating bills averaged about $121/month over the last 3 winters. But I keep the house at 65° day / 61° night which many would find too cold. I have my gas hot-air furnace checked out every other year ($129) by Scaran, an excellent local HVAC company. They also installed my new central a/c. Two years ago they sent a repair crew out on the day after a huge snowstorm to repair a failed blower motor capacitor. No extra charge for coming out on a Sunday either.

Going back 75 years in Windsor Terrace, we used an oil company called Cirillo for our old boiler, probably original to the c. 1915 house. Eventually, Cirillo merged with Empire State Fuel, which merged with Approved Oil. Lots of people have switched to gas, but oil heats hotter and the oil company is reliable. Around early June, they always send out notices re boiler and chimney cleaning. Best to respond right away, and schedule for July. This way, everything is clean and ready to go in November. (Used to be that we'd have to turn on the heat in late October. Not any more.) But I have to say, brick homes in Windsor Terrace need relatively little work to keep them airtight and in good shape. You'd have to be a real slob to run one down.

Don't change the batteries on the Sunday when you set back the clocks. I have always found New Year's Day to be best. Batteries are generally on sale after Christmas (frequently buy one/get one free) and don't just change the smoke detector batteries - remotes, clock-radios back-up batteries, flashlights. All of 'em and you won't be surprised during the course of the year.

Fall is the best season to be out doing yard work and checking up on the outside of a house! The chores warm you up in the cooler weather, and the colors are beautiful. You have a great excuse for some hot chocolate or mulled cider when the work is done!

A battery-operated lantern is good for lighting larger areas, and is not expensive. Check your batteries and radios, too.

Take a walk around your own suburban neighborhood after the last leaves of Fall are off the trees. You will undoubtedly notice that few if any of your neighbors are performing the tasks mentioned in the article. And if those tasks are being done, they are being done by some hired hand. Americans today prefer to sit inside on their computers and personal devices while their gutters fill up with debris and their gardens go untended. It's called laziness.