I’m Only Cold Once a Year – But It Lasts Five Months

As much as I try to ignore that I live in Southwest PA and that it’s December, there are changes occurring around me. Suddenly, it’s damn cold and there’s white stuff on the ground. Suddenly, we have to worry about things like frozen pipes.

Around here, it’s usually late October when I have to start paying closer attention to the weather. There always seems to be a place vacant or under rehab at this time of year. Actually winter is a fabulous time to rehab a house as it can be all ready for the spring market.

But for any place that’s vacant, I have to think about what happens if the heat’s not on, or worse still, that you can leave a place with the heat running and return and it’s no longer running. And that’s bad, bad news.

If you ask me – and why wouldn’t you, I say winterize any house that is vacant. Don’t count on your furnace not failing. You see property maintenance – things failing – is a numbers game. And those numbers have a way of falling against you at the worst of times.

Take an example. If you have a toilet where you live (most of us do), at some point it will need a new flapper (the thingy that keeps water from leaking from the tank to the bowl). Suppose that only happens every five years. Now suppose you have ten units and each unit has two toilets. Now you have 20 toilets and you can expect to replace about four flappers in a year’s time. Get it?

Oh and tenants have a way of making things “wear out” faster than they do in your house. That’s a whole other blog post!

Anyway furnaces are just like toilets. It’s a numbers game - the more you have, the greater your odds of a problem. To make matters worse, they tend to crap out when they’re first turned on for the season and when it’s extremely cold. I’ve already experienced the former this year and I am just waiting for the latter. Incidentally these “worst” times are also when everyone else is having the exact same problem and the furnace guy will be extra busy – good luck getting him in a hurry.

Have I convinced anyone that they should winterize their vacant house? It’s easy – here comes your 5 second primer.

Shut the water off at the water meter. Take the water meter loose from the service pipe – the hardest step (it will require a wrench). Now open the valve at the bottom of the water heater and let the water run into the closest floor drain – leave it open. Next open every faucet (hot and cold side) and flush every toilet. Get yourself some RV (recreational vehicle) antifreeze – from any automotive parts place – a gallon should be enough for the average 2 bathroom house. Pour a little into any spot where water will sit. That means into the toilet bowl, into the toilet tank, into each sink (the trap hidden below the drain holds water), same goes for each tub, shower, etc. You’re done.

If you have hot water heat – hold on – you’re not done. It’s more complicated – consult someone who knows what they’re talking about. Leave this blog at once.

Okay, that’s all. Get it done! That was a little dry and teachy this time. Sorry. Tune in next time and I’ll try to be less informative and more entertaining!