What the house needs in February, north of the equator
10 jobs, in five groups.
February is the last month of the hard weather and the first month worth planning in. The frost is not finished and the heating is still doing the work, so the indoor jobs from January still stand: air the rooms, watch the damp, keep the vents clear. What changes is that the mowing season is now close enough to be worth preparing for, and a mower serviced in February is a mower that starts in April, while one taken in during the first week of long grass sits in a queue for a fortnight. This is also the month to read the water meter overnight, because a slow leak that started in the frost shows up now and costs nothing to find. Clear the sink and shower traps by hand while you are indoors anyway.
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.
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.
- Wash the cooker extractor filters
- Three times a year, in the dishwasher or in very hot water with soda crystals. A greasy filter moves almost no air at all.
The garden edge
- 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.
- Clean the feeders and keep them filled
- Through the hard months, when it matters most. Clean them properly each time, because a dirty feeder spreads disease among the birds it feeds.
- Keep a hole open in the pond ice
- Stand a pan of hot water on it rather than breaking it, which sends a shock wave through the water that fish do not survive well.
Tick them off as you go
This page is the plain list for February. 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 forFebruary, which covers what to sow, what to plant out and what is ready to pick.