As I was growing up, my dad was always telling me how to button up our property for the cold months.  As a jack of all trades, he would often spend his winters doing several activities and most of the time (much to my dismay) he would drag me along.  I can remember several trips up into the mountains above Mill City, Oregon in search of fallen timber that we could then cut and fill his truck up with for heat.  I also used to help him with his paid gigs fixing the pipes under the houses of people who didn’t winterize their house and the pipes burst when the first freeze hit.  I disliked the experience at the time, but what little kid wouldn’t?  I would rather have spent my Christmas Break sitting in front of the television playing Nintendo!  Fast forward many years and Dad is still making sure that I know how to properly winterize my house and cars, but now it’s more out of habit than necessity.  That being said, I will pass my dad’s wisdom onto all of you.

Vehicle

First thing is first, check the antifreeze levels in your car.  Your rig is arguably the most important thing when it comes to daily life.  It gets you to and from work, allows you to do your shopping, pick up the kids, and pretty much anything that isn’t physically at your residence.  Failing to have your antifreeze to proper levels can cause all kinds of issues up to and including cracking your engine block.  I know some of you are wondering how much it costs to fix that.  Well, I don’t have a solid number for you, but you can assume $90 an hour for labor for roughly 15 hours of work, the block would be several hundred dollars depending on what you drive, and then there is the intangible costs of not having your transportation.  Lets just say it would be a mess and go ahead and check that antifreeze.  I usually would recommend to my friends who aren’t mechanics to take it to a place and have it checked (which is usually pretty cheap or free).  They will have a instrument to tell them if your radiator fluid is ok or whether it needs more antifreeze.  If you want to do it at home, you’re on your own. The next thing you need to do is check a few things on your house.

Foundation

Dad had solid work throughout the winter because there were a lot of people who neglected to check their houses before the first freeze. There are vents that lead under your house which, in the spring and summer, allow air to blow through and allow moisture to be carried away.  Not having these vents open during the spring and summer can lead to moisture buildup, mold, and eventually rot.  They are good for the overall health of your home.  In the winter, however, they are pathways for that cold winter air to have direct access to your pipes.

This isn’t the standing cold air, this is blowing wind chilled air which can be several degrees colder than the ambient temperature.  The cold air blows under your house and starts to freeze the water inside your pipes.  As the water freezes, it expands and eventually will split the side of the pipe it is in.  To prevent this, you should cover all of the vents with inserts that you can buy at any home supply store.  Usually they are some kind of styrofoam, but they don’t have to be.  The added benefit of preventing your pipes from freezing is that the little insulation you provided by blocking the vents will help reduce the heat loss from your warm house.

Roof

Where we live, we rarely get enough snow to be concerned about, but back when I was in the Army at Fort Lewis in 1996/97 there were a lot of people who didn’t think about this and their roof’s caved in.  Think about how much weight there is in a cubic foot (1 foot high, 1 foot wide, and 1 foot deep) of snow.  Now multiply that times the area of your roof and the weight can really add up.  If your roof is old, has several layers, or the trusses are weak then your roof could be a prime candidate for cave in.  To be safe, just get your lazy butt out there and shovel that stuff off!

Hoses

Along the same lines as frozen pipes is frozen hoses.  Hoses aren’t cheap and unless you want to end up replacing them every couple of years, it is best to put them away unless you have a specific need for them.  If you do end up using them, do what you need to and put them back away.  I’m not really sure what else to say about this one as it seems pretty self explanatory. Some people leave their hoses hooked up to the faucet and this is also bad.  The hose acts like an injection point for ice and can lead to your pipes freezing and bursting as well.  To winterize your outside faucets, you can purchase a cover from the home store.  These covers, most of the time made of styrofoam, have a metal hook through the middle.  You hook the metal onto the faucet, push the cover over the faucet, and tighten down the wing nut on top to tighten it down.  It is a fairly simple thing which can save you a lot of headache down the road.

I hope these tips help someone to avoid having any of their property damaged for years to come.  Don’t forget that preventative maintenance, no matter what it is on, can save you money over many years.  Neglecting to observe proper upkeep can cost you big in a time of year you will be spending money on staying warm, making food for the holidays, and buying gifts.  Don’t get yourself in a bind! Plan ahead. More stuff to drive the importance of this information home!!!

Next thing I wanted to talk about is blacksmithing. I always talk about my blacksmithing and what a pain it is to learn some of the techniques on my own, so I decided to sign up for a one day class on the basics.  The class in on October 9th, so I will likely give a full review after I finish it.  If anyone else is interested in blacksmithing and is in the Portland, Oregon area, there are several classes offered through a place called Trackers Portland . They have an immersion class that is one day a month for 9 months with the addition of a Thursday night open forge night each week.  I tried to sign up for that, but it was full so I opted to go for the one day basics class then follow that up with a knife making class.  I’m really looking forward to it!  I’ll let you all know how it goes when I finish it.

Lastly, Michelle and I started selling our products on Amazon a few weeks ago.  Currently, as discussed in a previous blog, our only product is a honey replacement for winterizing bees called “Sweet B”.  I would like to thank our first two customers who bought the Sweet B fondant.  Michelle worked really hard on mastering the process, figuring out the right packaging, and getting our shipping all set up for people to buy it.  I will say one thing about the process of making it.  It is much harder to get soft pliable fondant than it looks.  We messed around with a few recipes and ended up with a grainy and brittle sugary mess several times.  We are currently working on sourcing our ingredients from other places to reduce costs (without loss of quality) and make the product certified organic.  Anyway, it is very exciting to have people starting to buy a product on Amazon even though we are a new seller with no reviews.

It really makes all of this writing worthwhile when I see people reading it.  Ya, I check the stats every single day.  Somehow the fact that people are out there reading the content that I have created makes me feel good.  It’s even better when they let me know when they appreciate a particular post by sharing it, commenting on it, or liking it.  I try to make the content humorous, insightful, and helpful to anyone facing the same struggles I am.  I am also open to any topic suggestions anyone out there might have.  Feel free to make suggestions on this website or in the comments.  I really do appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my ramblings.  Now go forth into the world and be awesome!