What the house needs in March, south of the equator
18 jobs, in five groups.
March is the turn of the year for a house in the south and the month to start looking ahead to the cold rather than back at the heat. Book the boiler, the heat pump or the geyser service now and you get a date, whereas everybody rings in the first cold week of May. The chimney sweep has the same queue, so book that now too. Do the twice yearly safety round: press the test button on the earth leakage unit, test the burglar alarm and its battery, test the carbon monoxide alarm. Vacuum the dust off the back of the fridge and run a hot empty cycle through the washing machine. Look at the loft insulation, check the shed roof and the outside lights, and wash the greenhouse glass before the light drops. The autumn equinox, around 20 March, brings twelve hour days, and the evenings draw in quickly after it. On the Highveld the first cold snap usually comes in late April or May, which is the deadline those bookings are working to.
Safety
- Test every smoke alarm
- Every month. See January for how.
- Test the carbon monoxide alarm
- In March or April, before the heaters and the gas fire go on for winter, and again in September as the cold season ends. Look at the back as well, because the sensor has a limited life and its replacement date is printed on the case.
- Press the test button on the earth leakage unit
- Every six months. It should trip immediately. If it does not, that is an electrician rather than a job for the weekend.
- Have the chimney swept before the first fire
- Book it in March or April, ahead of the first cold evenings in May rather than after them. The sweep can look at the cowl and the flashing round the stack on the same visit.
- Check the heater flexes and plugs
- In March or April, before the heaters come out for winter. Run your fingers along each flex for cracks, look at the plug pins for scorch marks, and never lay a flex under a rug where its heat cannot get away.
- 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.
Water and heating
- Book the boiler or heat pump service
- Book the boiler or heat pump service in March or April, while the weather is still mild and engineers have time. The queue for a call-out grows on the first cold morning, which is exactly the week you want the heating working.
Inside
- Clean the windows inside and out
- Twice a year: in March, before the short days of winter when every bit of light counts, and in October for the summer. A cloudy day is best, because glass in full sun dries before it can be wiped clear.
- Vacuum the dust off the back of the fridge
- Twice a year. Dust on the coils makes the compressor work harder and run longer for the same cold.
- Run a hot empty cycle in the washing machine
- Quarterly, at the hottest setting with a machine cleaner or a cup of soda crystals. It is what stops the door seal smelling.
- Look at the loft insulation before the cold
- In March or April, before the cold arrives, look at the insulation in the roof space. It should lie evenly rather than flattened, and reach the edges without blocking the ventilation.
- Replace the bulbs that have gone
- Replace the dead bulbs in March or April, as the evenings shorten, and try the outside ones at the same time.
Outside
- Push on the fence posts
- Push each post in March and again in July. A post that rocks now will be down after the next big wind, and it is a far easier job while it is still standing.
- Check the shed roof and door
- In March or April, before the Western Cape winter rain or the dry cold elsewhere. Roofing felt usually gives way at its edges first, and a door that swells in the wet is easier to plane now.
- Check the outside lights work
- Before the evenings draw in from March. Clean the lens while you are there, because grime often takes more light from an outside lamp than an ageing bulb does.
- Look at the window frames and sills
- In March and again in October, press a screwdriver gently into the bottom corners of wooden frames and sills. Soft timber there is where rot begins, and dealing with it early is cheap.
The garden edge
- Turn the compost heap
- Three or four times a year. Air is what turns a heap into compost rather than into a wet layer of grass clippings.
- Wash the greenhouse glass down
- Wash the glass in March or April, before the low winter sun. Clean glass lets in the light that keeps plants compact through the short days.
Tick them off as you go
This page is the plain list for March. 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 March, which covers what to sow, what to plant out and what is ready to pick.