What the house needs in August, south of the equator
11 jobs, in five 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. Clear the sink and shower traps. 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.
Safety
- Test every smoke alarm
- Press the button on each one until it sounds. It takes two minutes and it is the single most useful thing on this list.
- Clear the lint from the dryer and its vent
- Every few weeks in the months you use it most. Lint is what turns a dryer fault into a fire, and the vent matters as much as the filter.
- Cut dry growth back from the walls
- Before your own dry season, which is summer in most of the north and winter across the summer rainfall south. Two metres of clear ground is the usual advice.
- Test the burglar alarm and its battery
- Twice a year. Most alarm faults are a backup battery at the end of its life, which is a part rather than a call out.
- Check the gate motor battery and the manual release
- Twice a year, and make sure everyone in the house knows how to release the gate by hand when the power is off.
Water and heating
- Read the meter overnight to check for a leak
- Read it last thing, use no water, read it again first thing. Any movement is a leak somewhere and it is cheaper found early.
Inside
- Watch the cold corners for condensation
- Behind wardrobes, in window reveals, on the north or south facing wall. Black spotting is mould and it starts as water on the glass.
- Air the house for a few minutes a day
- Even in the cold. Ten minutes of open windows costs very little heat and takes out the moisture four people breathe out overnight.
- Clear the sink and shower traps
- Twice a year, by hand rather than with drain cleaner. Most slow drains are hair and grease in the first ten centimetres.
The garden edge
- Check the water butt and its diverter
- Before the rains. Clean out the leaves, check the tap, and make sure the diverter is set to fill rather than to bypass.
- Service the mower before the mowing starts
- New plug, clean filter, sharp blade and fresh fuel. Everyone books a service in the first week of long grass.
Tick them off as you go
This page is the plain list for August. The same list is tickable onthe 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 forAugust, which covers what to sow, what to plant out and what is ready to pick.