topic Re: Are you ready for winter? in Community Chat

Are you ready for winter?

cherry — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:15:15 GMT

We are trying to get ready. It looks like we need a new roof. We just discovered a small leak by our fireplace. We suspect it is the phlanging sp?, but even though the roof looks solid it's 27 years old. It always something when you have a house

We have a guy coming out today to give us an inspection and an estimate. I wish we would have had rain this summer we might have spotted it earlier.

I can't believe how soon it will be winter

do you do anything special to prepare

Re: Are you ready for winter?

ValuSkr — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:19:54 GMT

It could be a problem with the chimney cap. I had that problem once - water dripping in front of the fireplace. The chimney cap was about 20 years old and needed to be replaced. Would be worth looking into anyway - cheaper than replacing the roof.

Re: Are you ready for winter?

hopi — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:20:06 GMT

I am picking up a couple of pounds to help insulate my body from the cold.

Re: Are you ready for winter?

sunshine45 — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:21:39 GMT

well, lets get through autumn first. we have been getting lots of rain and very windy conditions the past couple of days here....and are under flash flood warnings also.

the main thing we do during autumn is a cleanup, but that will be ongoing through october and into early november. leaf removal, weeding, tree branches that have gone down need to be removed, grass cutting, cutting down plants, window washing, and continued grass cutting. heating inspection will be done by our service company.

after THAT i am ready for winter!!!!!

Re: Are you ready for winter?

bri20 — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:25:56 GMT

W don't really prepare for winter.

Like @sunshine45 said, we need to do some Fall cleanup - take the cushions off the patio furniture, start picking up leaves, generator serviced, furnace checked - things like that.

cked Re: Are you ready for winter?

deepwaterdotter — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:40:15 GMT

Have stocked the sling near the fireplace with seasoned kindling and swept out the firebox, have a Costco-sized bag of driveway salt in the garage, and will replace rakes with shovels. We're ready for the blowing and drifting in Wisconsin.

Re: Are you ready for winter?

ALRATIBA — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:36:00 GMT

Yes ... all ready. I changed my closets ... got out my gloves, scarves and winter hats. Summer shoes are all away and my took out my winter footwear. I do have one more poncho to finish ... maybe another week or so.

I live in an apt ... no repairs or maintenance. Property management deals with that stuff.

Re: Are you ready for winter?

Preds — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:36:48 GMT

NO!

Re: Are you ready for winter?

bri20 — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:38:20 GMT

I am not psychologically ready for winter - lol.

Dread it

Re: Are you ready for winter?

ID2 — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:44:45 GMT

Were getting there. We've already have removed our boat, cleaned it and stored it away. Same with the jetski. Pulled out our dock, cleaned it, stored it away. Had the boat hoist removed, cleaned it and set it up away from the water. Jet ski hoist we were able to handle ourselves, moved and cleaned, put away. Our leaves haven't turned color yet, very late this year. But when the leaves are down its a huge chore to remove them daily so they don't ruin our lawn. Must cover or store away our patio furniture. We just went and got a brand new snowblower and will be ready when that first snow storm hits. So are we ready for winter? We're never ready.

Re: Are you ready for winter?

ladyroxanne — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:46:00 GMT

dh doesn't share the things he does to prepare for winter. he does put the umbrella and cushions from the furniture away. i know that.

i'll have to ask what he does to prepare even though we have fairly temperate temps along with some rain.

Re: Are you ready for winter?

beckyb1012 — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:48:08 GMT

Did a Happy Dance all day yesterday since I had to pull out a jacket for the first time. Did not need it by lunch but hey it is a start. Love the winter.

Re: Are you ready for winter?

SaRina — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:50:30 GMT

Sharpening my Yaktrax.

Re: Are you ready for winter?

Brooklynny — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 16:02:06 GMT

My prep is a process that begins October 1st through the week before Thanksgiving. I bring out the blankets, take the comforter and drapes to the cleaners, wash the windows. We have our boiler serviced every summer, so it's ready to fire up when it's time to turn on the heat. I take down our patio umbrella the weekend before Thanksgiving (even though the weather's turned chilly by then), the patio table and chairs are covered, store garden decor that's not weatherproof, grill goes into the basement, prepare the garden for winter, and of course, the sweeping of the leaves. We've got a huge Norway maple in the front yard, and it must drop a million leaves! It literally takes weeks to sweep them all up. We had our roof done two weeks before Sandy, so we don't have to worry about it again for years to come. After all that, I can relax and focus on planning our holiday dinners!

Re: Are you ready for winter?

PINKdogWOOD — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 15:55:49 GMT

@sunshine45 Geez, you sound like us. Let's get through autumn first. Like you we have too much stuff yet to do.

Leaves are barely showing color here although this morning I noticed our dogwoods out front are beginning to turn a rich burgundy. We're in the middle of 4 days worth of rain, right now we're having a thunderstorm with lots of rain (day 3). It's so dark outside right now looks like it's about 7PM.

Few leaves have dropped so we get to look forward to about 5 times worth of leaf raking/removal. HATE IT! We also have a lot of potted plants large & small to bring into the dining room lined up in front of (straight) bay windows. And before the plants come in....

I'm in the middle of freshing up the paint in living & dining rooms. I painted living on Monday & Tuesday. Trying to get this work done before....

New wall to wall carpet to be laid. Measure Tech was here for an hour measuring the entire house minus the L-shaped stairwell 1st flr to 2nd, not having that done. My tech Dwayne could not have been nicer. He took measurements, plugged into his tablet. When he finished he showed me my exact layout of every room in the house, so cool! I'm waiting to hear about new estimate. We were at Home Depot last weekend b/c they have a great sale going on (tech told me it'll probably be a permanent deal with them ie, free install & furniture move, all we pay for is pad & carpet. We brought sample colors home so we know the color. As soon as I get the call on accurate measurements we go back to HD to finalize depth of padding, firm color choice, pay and get scheduled. We need this work done before plants come in. I'm so excited about having this done I can't stand it!!!

We also have a new gutter DH is picking up tomorrow for north side of garage that has 2 holes in it - darn thing leaks like a sieve. Cannot wait to get that thing up. DH said he can recruit a couple a guys from his work to help him with that.

Only until ALL of this work has been taken care of, THEN we'll be as ready for winter as can be.

Re: Are you ready for winter?

itsmagic — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 16:13:38 GMT

When I put the snow tires on in November, then I'll be ready for winter.

Re: Are you ready for winter?

cotton4me — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 16:24:31 GMT

We don't do anything special to prepare other than to make sure our snow removal supplies are current (e.g., ice melt, snow shovels, windshield scrapers, etc.); otherwise everything sells out when an impending snow storm is predicted.

Re: Are you ready for winter?

hoosieroriginal — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 17:01:27 GMT

I agree - let's get through fall first - don't push us into winter yet. I have a ton of trees that haven't fallen yet so I will be busy the next couple of months mowing/mulching leaves. In November I'll put away my outdoor furniture and tuck away my pots. Winter - we probably won't be getting much snow till January like last year here in Indiana.

Re: Are you ready for winter?

Jacie — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 17:07:23 GMT

Oh goodness, it's a heat wave in MN right now. Low to mid 70's today. Out in my gardens dividing some perennials! Cleaning out pots etc. The leaves haven't even turned yet!

However, it is MN and we can plunge at anytime after the first frost, generally in Oct.

I did put my polar fleece sheets on the bed yesterday!

Re: Are you ready for winter?

colliegirls — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 17:26:52 GMT

It is still hot here, but ready for barren trees, rainy days, cloudy skies, and dead looking grass?? Of course NOT! YUCK!