Your first winter in a new house
What to do before the cold, when you do not yet know the building.
The first winter in a house is the one where you find out what the previous owner had learned to live with. The jobs below are the ones that are cheap in October and expensive in January.
Water is the thing to be careful about. A pipe that freezes does not merely stop working — it splits, and you find out when it thaws. If the house has been empty, or you do not know where the shutoff is, start there.
The rest is about not being surprised. Having the heating looked at before you need it, and knowing whether the roof and gutters are sound, converts a January emergency into a November appointment.
What it breaks down into
In roughly the order worth doing them. Each one goes straight to a post with the job already described — change anything you like before it goes up.
- furnace and heating repairA service call in October is an appointment; in January it is a wait.
- pipe winterization and thawA split pipe is not a plumbing bill, it is a plumbing bill and a ceiling.
- gutter cleaningBlocked gutters are how ice dams start, and ice dams get into the roof.
- chimney sweepingIf you plan to use the fireplace, before the first fire rather than after.
- roof inspectionWhatever is wrong up there gets worse under snow.
- sump pump installation and repairA basement that stayed dry for the last owner is not a promise.
The other guides, if this was not the one.