What the house needs in August, south of the equator
11 jobs, in four groups.
August is late winter and the month to prepare rather than to wait. The spring winds are close, so check the roof from the ground with binoculars and look at the shed. Service the mower before the mowing starts, because everybody books one in the first week of long grass. Do the second half of the twice yearly safety round: test the burglar alarm, check the gate motor battery and make sure everyone in the house knows the manual release, and oil the garage door track. Read the water meter overnight for a slow leak. The sink and shower traps want clearing as well. Check the water butt and its diverter before the rains come, and clean out the leaves that have collected in it over the cold months. The days lengthen noticeably through August, and the mower comes back into use on the Highveld in September. In the summer rainfall regions the veld fire season usually runs until the first good spring rain, often not before October, so ground cleared in June may need clearing again.
Safety
- Test every smoke alarm
- Every month. See January for how.
- Clear the lint from the dryer and its vent
- Still due this month. See May for how.
- Cut dry growth back from the walls
- In the summer rainfall regions the veld dries out and the fire season runs through the winter, so June to August is when to clear dry grass and brush back from the walls; two metres of clear ground is the usual advice. The Western Cape is the other way round, with its fire season in the dry summer, so clear the growth there again in November.
- Test the burglar alarm and its battery
- Twice a year. See March for how.
- Check the gate motor battery and the manual release
- Twice a year. See April for how.
Water and heating
- Read the meter overnight to check for a leak
- Read the water meter last thing at night, use no water, and read it again first thing in the morning. Any movement means a leak somewhere, and August, before the dry months and any water restrictions, is a good time to know.
Inside
The garden edge
- Check the water butt and its diverter
- Before the summer rains in the summer rainfall regions: clear out the leaves, check the tap, and set the diverter to fill. In the Western Cape the rain comes in winter, so do it in April instead.
- Service the mower before the mowing starts
- In August or September, before the grass starts growing again: new plug, clean filter, sharp blade and fresh fuel. Book it early, because everyone else remembers once the lawn is already long.
Tick them off as you go
This page is the plain list for August. The same list is tickable on the house through the year, where the ticks are kept on your own device and cleared at the start of each year. Nothing is sent anywhere.
The garden half of the month is on the almanac page for August, which covers what to sow, what to plant out and what is ready to pick.