Every year owners ask about the snow removal on the driveways.  Many want to only have it done when they are going to be using the house.  While a nice idea — it just doesn’t work that way.   If you don’t keep up with the snow, you won’t be able to clear it at all. 

With the temperature swings we have in Central Oregon we have a constant thaw and freeze cycle.   Each time we get any snow the roads are plowed and a berm of snow is left blocking your driveway.   Not a problem until it warms up and starts to melt and just before it melts, the temperatures drop and we get a nice block of ice.  Then nothing but a pick axe can remove the pile.  And of course each time the street is cleared (every 2 inches of snow fall) the berm gets bigger. 

Of course this same melt freeze cycle happens on the driveway and the walkways as well.  So you have a nice ice skating rink to the front door.  Now you are probably thinking — just use ice melt.  Well all studies say no!  Ice melt will eat away at the concrete or bricks and leave you with some year round damage.   So again — you just have to wait out the entire season. 

In some areas you are fined for not clearing the public walk ways and held liable for any slip and falls.  In other neighborhoods you are fined for leaving a car out on the street.  So you really have to have the driveway clear. 

Another factor is the advertisement that the house is empty.  No better way to tell what is going on traffic wise then to look and see if the snow and walkways have not been cleared. 

So please make it easier for everyone and have your walk ways, driveways and path to the garbage area cleared on a regular basis.  We clear only if it snows more then 4″.    

There is a lot of discussions that go on about if the water should be turned on or off in a home when the owners are away.   It really depends on the amount of time the house will be vacant.   

With the water off there is a possibility of seals drying out in the toilets as well as the dishwasher and the insta hot.    We recommend running dishwashers, insta hot and flushing toilets regularly. 

If you do turn the water off – don’t turn the heat off unless you have all the lines cleared.  When you turn the water off there is still water in the shower cartridges, in the area between the handles and the shower head and in the toilets to name a few.  Unless all these areas are cleared out – the heat should be kept on that the house should not be allowed to freeze.   

Installing a simple on/off switch that can be easily accessed is a great way to limit water damage.  The key is to make the switch simple to access.  Too many times the water shut off is under a house in a crawl space or under a couple of feet of snow. 

So the debate continues with no real answer.  It is all about personal preference.

There really is no way of knowing if all your utilities have been setup unless you are in the house.  That is where Home Fridays comes into the picture.  With our house checks we can find the gas that hasn’t come on, the furnace that failed when the neighborhood had a power outage.  You have eyes and ears at the house when you can’t be there.

A sad story about a local home.  The house went through inspection with flying colors, sale went through and everyone was happy.  The utilities were changed over to the new owners name.  Unfortunatley the gas company did not turn over correctly.  The gas was cut off and no heat to the home.  With no one in the house, sitting vacant not a problem – WRONG.  The water was on, the toilets full of water, the showers, the pipes, the ice maker.  Lots of water all over the house – frozen solid.  Within a month of ownership the home goes from  great to problematic.  We will never know why the gas wasn’t turned on correctly.  And had the house been with Home Fridays, we would have found the problem early and possibly prevented any pipes from freezing. 

A few dollars for prevention and maintenance cost or the big ticket for replacement of total failure.  At Home Fridays we are big believers in annual maintenance especially with the furnace and air conditioners.  Every year we have a few home owners that don’t want to have annual maintenance performed on their units.  Some make it through the winter with no problems – their gamble paid off.  They saved a few dollars. But at this moment, with the winter only begun we already had 3 furnaces fail (none of them had an annual maintenance).   Of course the furnaces never fail in the middle of the work day when it is warm out.   They fail on a holiday, in the evening when it is below freezing out.  In our extreme temperatures it only takes a short while to cause serious damage in the home.   Lesson to be learned — regular maintenance is a must and a much cheaper alternative!