If you’ve lived in New Brunswick for any length of time, you know winter doesn’t ask permission. One week you’re raking leaves in a sweatshirt, and the next you’re scraping frost off the windshield and watching the forecast for flurries. With mid-October already here, now is the time to get your home ready, before the cold, wind, and snow make every outdoor chore a miserable one.
Here are seven tasks worth checking off your list before the first snowfall.
1. Clean Your Gutters and Check Your Downspouts
Clogged gutters are one of the biggest culprits behind ice dams, those thick ridges of ice that form along the roof edge and force meltwater back under your shingles. Once the maples and birches have dropped their leaves, clear out the gutters completely and flush them with a hose to confirm water flows freely. Make sure downspouts direct water at least a few feet away from your foundation. In our freeze-thaw cycles, water pooling near the house can seep into cracks and expand as it freezes, causing real structural damage over time.
2. Inspect Your Roof
You don’t need to climb up there yourself (and with leaves and morning frost, you probably shouldn’t). From the ground, use binoculars to look for missing, curled, or cracked shingles, damaged flashing around chimneys and vents, and any sagging areas. A small repair now costs far less than dealing with a leak in February. If something looks questionable, call a roofer before the fall rush ends and their schedule fills up.
3. Seal Air Leaks and Check Your Insulation
Drafty windows and doors quietly drain your heating budget all winter. Walk through your home on a breezy day and feel around window frames, exterior doors, and places where pipes or wires enter the house. Replace worn weatherstripping, apply fresh caulk to gaps, and consider door sweeps for any gaps at the bottom of exterior doors. While you’re at it, take a peek in the attic. Insulation that’s thin, compressed, or damp won’t do its job, and heat escaping through the roof is a leading cause of ice dams too.
4. Service Your Heating System
Whether you rely on a furnace, a heat pump, baseboards, or a wood stove, don’t wait until the first cold snap to find out something’s wrong. Book a professional tune-up for oil or propane furnaces, replace filters, and make sure your thermostat works properly. If you heat with wood, have the chimney inspected and cleaned to reduce the risk of creosote buildup and chimney fires. Check that your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors have fresh batteries and haven’t expired. This is the season they matter most.
5. Protect Your Pipes and Outdoor Plumbing
Frozen pipes are a costly and stressful problem. Disconnect garden hoses, drain them, and shut off the interior valves to outdoor faucets if your home has them. Insulate exposed pipes in unheated spaces like crawl spaces, garages, and basements with foam sleeves. If you have a seasonal cottage or camp, make sure the water system is properly drained and winterized before you close it up.
6. Prepare Your Driveway, Walkways, and Tools
Think ahead to that first storm, because it’s no fun discovering a broken shovel or an empty salt bin while snow is already piling up. Test your snowblower, change the oil and spark plug if needed, and stock up on fuel. Buy ice melt or sand before the shelves empty out. Many homeowners also place driveway markers along the edges so plow drivers and snowblowers can see where the pavement ends. And if you’ve hired someone for snow removal, confirm your arrangement now.
7. Tidy the Yard and Store Outdoor Gear
Put away patio furniture, drain and store the garden hose, and cover or move the barbecue to a sheltered spot. Trim back tree branches that hang over the roof, driveway, or power lines, since heavy wet snow and ice can bring them down. Finish raking, and consider wrapping young or sensitive shrubs in burlap to protect them from wind, salt spray, and heavy snow.
Don’t Forget an Emergency Kit
New Brunswickers know that storms can knock out power for hours or even days. While you’re preparing, stock a basic kit: flashlights, extra batteries, bottled water, non-perishable food, blankets, a first-aid kit, and a battery-powered radio. If you have a generator, test it outdoors before you need it and never run it inside the house or garage.
A Little Effort Now, a Lot of Comfort Later
None of these tasks takes much on its own, but together they make a big difference in keeping your home warm, safe, and dry through the long months ahead. Pick a weekend, work through the list, and then you can look out at that first snowfall with a hot coffee in hand, knowing your home is ready for it.
Stay warm, New Brunswick.
