Autumn. Cleaning and maintenance

boiler is serviced

flue is cleaned and stove has been checked

car is serviced and has correct mix in the washer tank

Will soon be putting the winter safety kit into the car. Warm clothes, chocolate, bottle of water, de-icer

scraper in the door pocket

Plenty of food in and accessible, in 2010 we were suddenly snowed in for six whole weeks, just a few miles from here. It was much too dangerous for a car. In 2018/2019 I went out of the house and did a quick slip falling heavily onto my backside, fortunately on new snow. Not risking similar ever again. Was slippy in parts locally last year

water butts need to be 3/4 empty for winter and it is raining here again. I will not be needing excess water from now and would need to put hoses on the bottom taps to release excess water down to tap level.

To easily attach hose ends take a bowl of hot water out and pop the hose end in to soften, then push onto the tap. I have a nearby drain handy. I shall empty when prolonged frost is forecast

I don`t want any more rain water, a two minute job. Unscrew pipe clip (if used) that attaches a small hose to the downpipe, take the hose off and cap the end of the downpipe hole so that water goes straight down the downpipe. I leave the small hose hanging for now and will clean in spring. I don`t want creatures going into my tanks so I fashioned a cork into a taper shape, with a sharp knife and I bung that into the open end of the hose

If you don`t have a cap for the downpipe, easy to make something suitable from a bottle cork

I used silicone spray today to lubricate the garage door runners. The rollers are plastic or rubber and best to not use an oil base lubricant. Normal metal hinges can be lubricated with an oil base such as wd40. I will use that on my garden gate hinges

I have an outside tap as well as two brass taps on water tanks. They will all need protecting by tap insulation later. When you do that, you need to switch the water off that supplies the outside tap and leave the tap open. In. my case it means that it stops the water into my utility room sink but so be it. Doing this absolutely means that there will be no burst pipe

If you don`t have an ouside tap stopcock, look for a fitting with a single line on it that can be turned. To have the water running through, that line is parallel to the sides of the copper pipe. To stop the water you need to use a screwdriver and turn that line by 90 degrees. That fitting should be very near to the outside tap. Turn the tap on to check that the water is stopped

Whitewavemark2

I’ve noticed that our conker trees seemed to have prematurely shed their confers in the drought. Very few on the trees.

I thought that’d be the case around here, but there have still been plenty (outer SW London), ditto in Oxford where a dd lives. Gds collected masses last week. We’ve taken them to nearby Richmond Park - apparently they are an essential part of the diet of deer.

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kircubbin2000

Can you clean out the gutters and drains? I'm looking for a handyman for that.

Our window cleaner does ours - for an extra charge, of course.

Very few big autumn jobs here. Heating fired up to check it works, service next month, water butts disconnected from down pipes, the greenhouse will be cleared out and cleaned with Jeyes next month.
My car in for service and MOT next Friday, MrJ’s already done.
Dependent on the weather, thermals and jumpers will be swopped for t shirts and shorts, electric blanket onto our bed.

Just googled, does conkers repel spiders.
It says not. That it is a myth- sure Lakeland use to sell a spray that contained horse chest nut, but says that no good either. It says vinegar or mint & clean regularly.
I have pulled my chest of drawers, full of cobwebs behind.

Jaxjacky

Very few big autumn jobs here. Heating fired up to check it works, service next month, water butts disconnected from down pipes, the greenhouse will be cleared out and cleaned with Jeyes next month.
My car in for service and MOT next Friday, MrJ’s already done.
Dependent on the weather, thermals and jumpers will be swopped for t shirts and shorts, electric blanket onto our bed.

Electric blanket already 😂 I still have my fan on at night at the moment- more to drown out the snoring coming from next to me 🙄

As I said Mt61 weather dependent, may well not be until November, but I’m a chilly mortal - Raynauds.
MrJ is the opposite, always warm, his side of the blanket is never switched on!

Jaxjacky

As I said Mt61 weather dependent, may well not be until November, but I’m a chilly mortal - Raynauds.
MrJ is the opposite, always warm, his side of the blanket is never switched on!

Oh sorry I was only teasing JJ Oh dad had that, his poor hands & feet were always freezing cold.

WD-40 does several sprays and one is silicon-based. Incidentally, WD40 was invented by the GF of an ex-boyfriend of my younger DD.

I would love to be as organised as the OP is but nowadays I struggle with an increasing1y-disabled DH and a 13-roomed house. If the dishwasher gets loaded it is a miracle!

Mine never did ! So I have never been dependent on a man to do any outside chores, and living as I do in the south Midlands I find there is little need for the drastic pre- Winter precautions that those of you living further north might need to contemplate.
My outside tap has never frozen up since I moved it to under the kitchen window, my garage door will squeak if it feels like it, I intend to go on using my lawnmower for another 2-3 months, I have never ever lubricated windows or doors and while I will get my window cleaner to clear the gutters for an extra payment I can’t think of anything else. My boiler service will happen when “Corgi Homecare “ send their chap and my cleaner will bring the suitcases of winter clothes out of the loft perhaps at the end of September or early October.
Summer is not over yet!

karmalady

boiler is serviced

flue is cleaned and stove has been checked

car is serviced and has correct mix in the washer tank

Will soon be putting the winter safety kit into the car. Warm clothes, chocolate, bottle of water, de-icer

scraper in the door pocket

Plenty of food in and accessible, in 2010 we were suddenly snowed in for six whole weeks, just a few miles from here. It was much too dangerous for a car. In 2018/2019 I went out of the house and did a quick slip falling heavily onto my backside, fortunately on new snow. Not risking similar ever again. Was slippy in parts locally last year

This all sounds very alarmist and premature!
It is only 1 September not 🎄 in the frozen North or Christmas 🎅 !

I’ve decided to change my Summer door wreath for my Autumn wreath, but not until October!

Seriously though, DH worked away and retired early to pursue his hobbies, so I had already built up a list of Trades to rely on. Since then, some have retired/sold their businesses on, but they’re still in my ‘little book ‘.

Some exterior wood painted last weekend. New tyres on my car in the same day and boiler being serviced on Thursday. These, however, weren’t planned to be so close together - just the dates I’d been given.

I’m in the frozen North East, but we’re a hardly bunch. Neither I nor my parents before me have ever taken any drastic measures to prepare for Winter.

.Should I put the sprouts on Maw?

Should I put the sprouts on Maw ?

You mean they’re not on already? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I see this thread has been revived from two years ago
#justsaying

Old thread and time has moved on

3 years later and I no longer have to do any house maintenance, everything was done during 22/23. All I do now is look for areas I can downsize. I enjoyed the maintenance at the time

Alarmist and premature Maw? No I was glad then that we were organised. We suddenly could not leave the house for 6 whole weeks. Our village was never de-iced and the snow and freeze happened well before christmas

The `being organised` comes from spending my whole adult life in isolated rural situations

I still have the tools, the ability and energy and would still tackle any jobs needed but there are none, due to the house being new and maintained

Interesting thread, though. And just as relevant. For some reason I didn’t get the gutters cleaned in the spring and they do need cleaning. They need doing twice a year because of the leaves and pine needles. The man who does it will have a terrible job on his hands when I get round to asking him to do it. I painted all of my fences a few weeks ago. I can’t tell you what joy it gives me when I look out of my kitchen window! I’ve bought several fence paintbrushes so I have one for each colour so next year I can just touch up any areas that need doing. One fence was in a discontinued Cuprinol shade and it was only by chance that I found out you can still get discontinued colours from specialist shops.The falling leaves are a nightmare and the silver birch seeds will start falling soon. The trees are now massive so the problem gets worse each year. My newly painted garden bench has been covered for the winter; using Hammerite metal paint is so satisfying! I remember the window company telling me I need to treat the moving parts of my new windows so I must look into that.

My Autumn maintenance consists mainly of zapping large black spiders that suddenly appear at this time each year and give me a heart attack.🕷️🕷️🕷️