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By Tim Hauserman
So there we were having a lovely and warm September, when boom baby, it snowed! Fall and winter have a habit of doing that. You are paddling on the lake, or enjoying a warm bike ride and then the next day, there is three feet of snow in your yard. While the September snow was just a few inches, now is the time to get your yard and house ready before the white stuff arrives.
Clean the Yard
Finding hoses, rakes, lawn chairs and the rest of the stuff hanging out in your yard under a few feet of snow can be a frustrating task. Get them out of there before the snow flies. Everything you might need to use in the winter, needs to be in the house or garage. Have a sprinkler system? Keep your eye on the weather and get it shut off and drained before those cool nights turn to cold days as well.
Store It
This is also the time to plan for what to do with the kayak, paddleboard, bikes etc…that have taken up your garage all summer long. You want to be able to get your car in that garage, so put the summer gear in a storage shed, basement, under the house wherever it will not be under foot during the winter.
Heat the House
If your heater has taken the summer off, you might want to have it serviced and make sure it is in prime working condition. Heat with wood? Well, get some! Need to stack it? Get it stacked and covered somewhere out of the snow. Remember to have your chimney swept. Chimney fires will completely ruin your day.
Snow Removal
Don’t forget to line up a snow removal contractor or get that snowblower fixed, and take a look at your snow shovel. After last winter, it might be so beat up it’s time for a new one.
Water is Good…until it is very bad.
Water running in your house is good, unless it is running throughout the house because the pipes froze and then broke. When water in your pipes freeze, the pipes expand until they can’t expand any more, and then, the pipes burst and out the water comes. It then continues to come out until someone shuts the water off. How to prevent pipes from freezing? Keep the heat above 50 degrees in your house, and/or drain the pipes so there is no water in them to freeze. Reacquaint yourself with where the water main shut off is in your home should a burst pipe occur.
Stock up
Sometimes the power goes out or the roads close because of too much snow or flooding. Be prepared by having plenty of candles, matches, flashlights, and non perishable food in your house all winter. And it is a good idea to have an additional heating source such as wood readily available to keep you and your pipes warm. Some swear by an electric generator to get by times when the power goes out, I prefer to use the power outage as an opportunity to read a book by candlelight.
THINK OF LYNN RICHARDSON
FOR ALL OF YOUR LAKE TAHOE AND TRUCKEE REAL ESTATE NEEDS!
