I’m curious what Dopers do each year for vehicles, house, etc.? What is the worst case scenario for your area?
We live in N Texas, so preparing is probably easier than other places, although a few years ago we were introduced to a new “worst case scenario” (Texas deep freeze).
Mostly we prepare for freezing weather and the occasional ice storms. It’s surprisingly difficult to travel on fully-iced roads, so that’s a serious consideration here.
For vehicles, I winterize the camper (RV antifreeze pumped into water lines), ensure that boat’s heaters are working, and make sure the tire chains are in all the cars. I check to see there are ice-scrapers in the cars too (credit cards don’t work that well). There’s a really large set of heavy duty tire chains that get loaded into the truck, since we’re more likely to use it in serious weather (4WD - cable chains for front tires, heavy chains for rear). I also make sure the emergency start packs are charged.
For the house, I attach plexiglass sheets to the “screen” doors for extra insulation, and put foam covers on the outside faucets. I also fill up and start the hot tub, but that’s more for fun than out of necessity. It’s drained each summer so I could actually just ignore it.
So… what do you do to prepare for winter? Are there any unusual steps you take due to location (or other reasons)?
I took the screen out of the storm door and put the glass back in.
I’ll eventually drain the hoses and take them in, sometime in mid to late November though. My hose bibs are frost free type.
I’ll test the Snowblower at some point in November also. The swap its position in the garage with the lawn mower.
Last year I never used it except for the test and then a end of season ran it to run the gas dry.
That is pretty much all I need to do, Central Jersey. Are winters generally aren’t that bad.
ETA: Snow shovels are hung neatly in the garage, so no issues there. In picture, can see Shovels, Mower and Blower.
Plastic sheets over all the old leaky single pan windows, plus thermal drapes over that. Buy some salt. Find the snow shovels. That’s about it normally. This year I did a lot of basement insulation and a major change to have the old oil boiler provide basement heat since the upstairs now is heated by ductless mini-splits heat pumps. Some years I get a load of gravel to spread over the driveway but I’ve put enough down over that it’s formed a hard pack and doesn’t need it very often any more.
Pacific Northwest. Winters are typically wet, and only occasionally cold. We stock up on salt for the driveway. Blow out the sprinkler system. Get the leaves out of the gutters (two or three more weeks before that’s done). We don’t have to do anything for our cars. Our boat is in a boathouse, so it’s fine.
We got newfangled outlets (spickets?) for the hoses, so they don’t even need to be covered up for freeze protection. I put a heater in the shed, because we put a few plants in there and we’re storing extra paint. We keep in about 50 degrees, I’d guess.
Minnesota -
When my husband mows the grass for the last time (usually the beginning of October) he does whatever he has to store the mower and then preps the snowblower.
Shovels are brought out of the shed and into the garage.
The hose is drained and put away.
Anything that can freeze (and shouldn’t) is taken out of the garage and put into the basement.
We purchase pet friendly ice melt for the walkway.
I put my shorts and other summer clothing away and bring out my Cuddle Dud long underwear and other heavy clothing.
Summer and other light jackets are switched out the winter jackets.
I have a shoe organizer on the inside of the coat closet door that has a bunch of pockets. In the summer that’s where all of my sandals go. They’ve been put away, the organizer has been washed and is now filled with winter hats, mittens, gloves, and gaiters.
A new furnace filter is put in place.
The cars are somewhat mouse-proofed.
The snow brushes are put in the cars.
All of my potted plants have been dumped out.
The patio/deck furniture is put away.
The dog poop bucket and shovel is in place. During the summer a regular pooper-scooper is used and the poop is walked out to the woods and tossed. In the winter when there’s a lot of snow, we have to use a spade and put it in a bucket. Then every few days the bucket is hauled out to the woods.
I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but that’s most of it.
New England here. I will drain all the hoses and hang them up. I will bring in all the lithium batteries from the garage. I just put away all the patio furniture.
Ack, so many things. The insulated cover for the stock tank installed, the heated waterers for the goats and hens, the hoses drained and stored in the cellar. Sand in a covered barrel for ice patches. Get out my boot cleats, my heavy gloves, my size-too-big insulated boots I can wear two pairs of socks in, change my shoulder-season barn coat for my heavy canvas carhartt parka. Summer clothes get put away and the winter stuff comes out. We spend a lot of time outdoors in snow and ice, not winter sports but chores. I also snowshoe when the snow is right.
The vegetable garden is stripped, the roses covered with hay. The interior storm windows have already gone up over the single-hung historic windows. Some things will inevitably be done last minute and some not until it’s too late, like taking the electric netting around the chicken pens down before it’s frozen into the ground until spring, when will I get around to that?
Montana–much of the above, plus driveway markers so you can see where it is to plow, blade or snowblower on the tractor (blade right now), chains on the tractor, emergency kits in the vehicles, snow tires on, diesel additive in the tractor, hook up the block warmer to a smart plug, get the dogs’ winter gear out, plus much more. Aggravated by me being injured this year!
Southern New England winters are much milder than the northern portions that abut the Arctic circle like Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Heavy snow comes once in a while, sometimes an entire season, but that’s become rare. NOAA predicts a possibly cold but fairly dry winter this year based on El Nino. Wasn’t much to last year either.
Minnesota, but since we live in a retirement community, there is not much I need to do. Woot! We bought a small shovel and a bag of gravel to keep in the car.
When we lived in Anchorage, I had to winterize the RV, but the condo had a garage, so other than checking the antifreeze in the car, not much else. Laid in a stock of ice melt, but that’s about it. I had a telescoping pole for knocking icicles off of the eaves. Annual boiler/heating checkup.
In Portland, I did a minor winterizing of the RV: disconnect the battery, pour a bit of RV antifreeze in the drains. Took the screens off the windows and cleaned them, bought a few bags of ice melt and a big bag of sunflower seeds, and a big box of peanuts for our feathered friends. Annual furnace/heat pump checkups.
I have to take in the pads from the outdoor sofa and chairs - I store them in the hammock, which in the winter is strung up in the garage. Oh, I also turn off the sprinkler system when it starts to rain regularly. The pool filter pump has a thermometer, so if it drops to around freezing it will start automatically and run at a low speed occasionally, so I don’t need to worry about that. I may put some anti-freeze wiper fluid in my car, which is the one I take up to the snow. Check all car’s wiper blades and replace as needed. Northern California valley near Sacramento.
For the spring/summer/fall our horses have water bucket in their stalls. For winter we have a heated 150 gallon water trough that I will be setting up one day this week. I fill it 1/3 of the way on 3 consecutive days so as not to tax the well.
We also close the barn doors on one end and hang a huge canvas tarp over the other end to block wind while still allowing air exchange.
I put “real” windshield washer fluid in the reservoir of my Jeep instead of the water I use in good weather.
I put the garden chair cushions into the loft, put a cover on the sun parasol and get the chimney swept before we use the log burner. I’m afraid that’s it! It doesn’t often get below 0ºC (32ºF) here in SW England. On the vanishingly rare occasion it snows (sometimes no more than 1-2 days per year), I’ll just stay at home and wait for the snow to melt in a few hours.
Vancouver, British Columbia. Get winter tires put on; fill up windshield washer fluid reservoir; put snow scraper/brush in back seat; check and restock emergency kit, a small bag with flashing lights, gloves, hat, reflector vest, granola bars, and water. I have never used anything in the emergency kit in 40+ years, even when we made several winter trips a year to the interior of the province, where there is snow and white-outs and landslides and avalanches and road closures.
Plus, I have to bolt the urethane edge onto my front end loader bucket. It’s this massive (probably 50 lbs) quadrilateral prism 60" long, with a steel bar molded into it, that keeps the steel bucket edge from gouging into my asphalt driveway. Expensive, too – I think the sucker was about $800. I use the FEL on my tractor to clear snow. I have a big cul-de-sac surrounded by high barriers, such that I need to go in and pick up a bucket load, then drive it out to where I can dump it.
Toronto chiming in. I live in an apartment, so aside from bleeding the radiators once they’re turned on for the building, I don’t have to do much. I swap tires on my car for winters, and make sure I’ve got extra wiper fluid on hand. And I get a flu shot.
San Francisco. I do basically nothing, other than to break out the long-sleeved garments. We like to keep a couple of windows cracked open for fresh air, and so the house can get a bit cooler in the “winter.” In fact, we’re having kind of a cold snap at night right now, lows in the low 50’s, because the skies are clear. When it’s cloudy, lows usually remain in the high 50’s.
I’ve lived here for 43 years, and have become very acclimatized to the mild weather. I haven’t much tolerance any more for hot or cold extremes – my comfort zone is 55 to 75 or so.
Here in the Sonoran desert (metro Phoenix) we do what most of you folks would probably consider doing for spring.
Those who are inclined to do so will shift to spending more time outdoors so it might be cleaning up the patio, washing the screens for the windows, etc.
Those of us who like to travel around the state (higher elevations will get snow) will toss our traction boards or tire chains into our trunks for potential use. Some of us will also bemoan the fact that we can’t buy non-freezing windshield washer solution in the county. Apparently that’s something we’ve inherited from California. Yay.
We’ve now had two nice days in a row after the hottest October on record. It’s astounding!
Heh. I do not like the feel of long sleeved shirts, but I have a few for practical use during the summer (sun protection for my vitiligo affected arms). With winter approaching I’ll put away my few long sleeved shirts.
