winter_prep
family,  homes

Preparing for Winter – 8 Things to do to Get Your Home in Order

Preparing for winter is something we should all start thinking about. After all, it’s already mid-October, and there are only so many good days left! Preparing for winter is about getting your home and your property in order, so it can withstand the rigors of bad weather, especially up here in Ontario.

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Preparing for Winter and Saving Future Headaches

The last thing you want in the winter is to be without heat or to have to deal with a busted pipe. The last thing you want in the spring is a clean up hassle. These tips can help you save headaches throughout the winter and make spring clean up in the yard easier.

Service Your Furnace

It’s so important to make sure you service your furnace, especially before winter. You want to be sure that every single thing in your furnace is in good working order so you have no bouts with a loss of heat or the general hassle of a repair in the winter. Luckily for you I wrote a post about furnace maintenance recently. Here’s what you should know and who to call also.

Store the Patio Furniture

High winds, frigid temperatures, and moisture from snow can damage your patio furniture. Plus, if you have items with cushions animals can eat through the in the winter months. Try to keep them indoors and in a container that is sealed and moisture free or up high. We store ours in the garage up high. Since you won’t be using it anyway, store it until spring comes to save hassle.

Service Your Snow Blower

When winter hits, you want to make sure your gear is in order to make snow removal easier. Make sure you give your snow blower a good once over. Check the spark plug, change the oil and start it up two or three times over the course of a few weeks to make sure it’s good to go for the incoming snow.

Replace Your Smoke Detector Batteries and Test Your Detector

This should be done every fall and spring to make sure your smoke detectors are always in good working order. CO2 alarms should be checked here too.

Cover Shrubs and Delicate Plants

Preparing for winter includes preparing your plants. Cover your shrubs and other less hardy plants with a lightweight, breathable mesh to help protect them from excess snow and frost.

Rake

Raking is best done in the late fall when the majority of the leaves have fallen. Although many do this in the spring, preparing for winter is also preparing for spring in this case. When you rake in the late fall, you save yourself the hassle of trying to remove soggy leaves, and you save your lawn turning yellow.

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PIN For Later – >

Cover Garden Beds

Again, this is an example of preparing for winter and for spring. In Canada, our growing season is decidedly short. We can lengthen it by covering our garden beds with black plastic. This helps retain the natural warmth of the earth and help make the bed more suitable for planting sooner in the spring.

Weatherstripping

This is something you should actually have year round, but it’s exceptionally important when preparing for winter. Be sure to have weatherstripping in place around doors and windows to help keep out the frigid air and save energy, and money too of course.

Preparing for Winter and for Less Headache

Preparing for winter is all about reducing the likelihood of problems and headaches. And a few of these tips are also great for preparing for winter AND spring. The more you do now, the better off you’ll be for the coming months.

Mom of two beautiful active girls, traveller, fitness junkie, social media consultant, and keeper of the sanity.

17 Comments

  • Pam Wattenbarger

    Testing your smoke detectors and CO2 detector(s) is great advice. You don’t want to get a heating fire or CO2 leak and not know until its too late.

  • Sarah

    Wow these really are great ways to get your home prepared for winter! I know that time arrives so quickly for sure, That is the most adorable snowman, ever!

  • Rebecca Swenor

    These are all great tips for getting your home in order before winter. Getting the furnace serviced is something everyone should do before winter to prevent hazards from happening. I am having mine serviced in the morning. It has been very cold here and we are just waiting for the snow to fall now. Thanks for sharing the tips.

  • Eena

    I may say that this is truly not that helpful for me, but it is informative. Living in a tropical country, these things are just great to know, so excited to experience winter in one of my travels soon!

  • Jeanine

    We have to get on all of this for our home because the winter weather will be hitting us anytime now! These are great tips and such great reminders!

  • Bonnie @wemake7

    Thank you for this reminder. We get pretty bad winters here normally so we always make sure to get ready for them.

  • HilLesha

    It’s almost hard to believe it won’t be long before it’s winter. I’m not a fan of cold weather at all, but these are important tips to keep in mind. Thanks for sharing!

  • Michele D

    I live in Florida so our winters are mild. But I’ve lived in New England for most of my life and I do know about bad winters. It can get pretty cold and bad outside.

  • R U S S

    I live in a tropical country so we don’t have winter here, but this is an awesome list ( really helpful! ) that you’ve put together. In anything, I can’t stress enough on the importance of being prepared. Although winter sounds fun, I can imagine how it could still affect little stuff here & there especially with homes.

  • Fi Ni Neachtain

    There’s so much to do before winter arrives isn’t there? One big one for us is sealing the doors and windows so that the draught doesn’t get in.

  • Terri Beavers

    These are such great tips and I’m just a wee bit jealous that we don’t get snow. In fact, we don’t have much of a winter at all to be honest. On the other hand, these tips will really help my sister out as they prepare for winter.